Apocrypha
by HaruhismFollower
Summary: He sacrificed his left arm for power, but it came with serious side effects. He doesn't only have to bear with headaches, dizziness and with lapses in his memory, but coincidentally a new enemy appeared in town. The main suspect? Issei himself. As his sanity beings to diminish, humanity is getting ready for war. How much does it take to completely lose yourself? Darkfic.
1. Moving the pieces

**I feel bad for almost being a copycat in the last parts of this chapter. It isn't the same, but I still feel bad about it. Sorry for taking so long.**

* * *

"Ah man…" I woke up cold and starving. I don't feel anyone around me… not Rias or Asia. Maybe it was because I was in the floor, for some reason.

I stood up, and saw that I had fallen from the bed again, somehow. It was happening quite regularly these last days. It was strange, because Asia and Buchou normally surround me and if I fell, then at least one of them should fell too! Stupid somnambulism.

I decide to not wake up the girls, and went downstairs… and find something to eat. After all, what time was it? It was still dark… maybe not. However, the bad weather did not help to wake up. Still, My muscles felt sore… but the hunger was stronger.

_Ring! Ring!_

The sound of the telephone scared me, I guess that can wake me up. Going full speed towards it, I almost tripped and fell to the ground.

I instantly put the telephone in my ear. "Who is it?" I am sleepy and I forgot my manners. Don't judge me with that!

"Ah! Are you a friend of Issei?" His mom said.

"… You can't even recognize your son's voice? What kind of parents are you?!" I almost yelled.

"Oh… You always have that beautiful voice when you talk through the phone!" She was right. Apparently, my voice changes every time I speak through something. My parents said it was because when I was little, if I talked through a phone, I always impersonated a grave voice. Guess I started to do it subconsciously with the years.

"Whatever… How are your vacations?"

"Rome is beautiful! You should have come with us, but I guess you have more important things." When I won the duel against Riser, Buchou gave my parents some tickets to Italy. Kind of ironic really. I guess it was made specifically for them, and not for me. Probably every exorcist in town would try to kill me. I cannot complain though, now I'm alone without them… Nose, don't bleed.

"Yeah… I still have school, you know." I replied, while checking that nobody was around me.

"Sure. School." Hey! Don't judge me! It's not my fault that-

"Shut up… next time, check the time schedule. It's like… too early." I looked at my left arm, and saw that it was still very good. It has been like… two days since the last time it became part dragon. I don't know if that's good or bad.

"Don't be like that! It's 10 p.m. here! And we decided to call our only son! We are good parents!" You don't even recognize my voice.

"Bye." I hung up. It's very strange to say everything I do. Why am I even doing this?

Looks like Buchou and Asia are still asleep. Together. In a bed for one person. Probably naked. But I'm hungry! Perverted side, wait for a moment!

* * *

After a… strange morning. We went to school. I'm still wondering why we even bother to go there, but I guess I need even the minimum level of education. I can't have like… I don't know, demonic high school? At least there I would have Ddraig to help me. Although he isn't a devil.

It's a shame that I can't happily walk around town, because the people that are there shopping, having a date or passing the time with their friends are… humans. I mean, sure! I have human friends. But I can't tell them about the awesome adventures I'm having, and they probably will die without knowing. How long will I live now anyways? Now I can only friends that are devils… It's not bad, but… It isn't the same. Why can't they know about all this? It's not like they could kill us all.

Whatever, I should probably pay attention to the class.

"…nd remember that in two days we will have an exam. I hope that you all have started to study already." Oh shit…

I looked around the class, and saw everyone with straight faces. I guess I'm not the only one that hasn't started to study. I guess devil or human, we are all still the same in the insides.

My head started to hurt. It was also becoming normal to me. Since I cheated my way through the balance breaker, I had not only sacrificed my arm, but I guess one of the secondary effects was to have headaches. I already told this to Buchou, and Ddraig said the same. It will disappear with time. Knowing that the dragon is over 6000 years old, I'm scared of his concept of time.

I sighed relieved when the class ended. Now I just want to sleep. It's one of the ways to get rid of my stupid headache. The other way is… well, there isn't any other way. It just disappears with time, but if I sleep, it disappears more quickly! Taking a nap is the best… Whoever invented it, you are my new hero!

"Ise-san, are you ready?" I heard Asia behind me, and I quickly nodded. I grabbed my things and saw every boy in the class looking at me with jealousy.

Hahaha… They will try to kill me some day.

"Yes, let's go!" I felt everyone's glares in my back, but my headache is stronger than the feeling of being killed by eyes. Now I'll just sit back and rel-

"Does your head hurt again?" A concerned Asia asked me. Damn, she looks too cute when she is concerned! Don't look at me like that!

"Ah, yes. Don't worry, it's not that bad. I just forgot that we had an exam." She quickly nodded in response.

"I will fail!" Don't say it that proudly!

"Well… isn't math universal? Didn't you learn when…. Nevermind." Poor girl! She is more lost than me! "At least try to study today. I'll help you, if you want."

"If you help me… I may do worse… But don't take it seriously! I'm sure we can help each other!" I want to cry so bad right now.

"S-Sure." At least I'll spend some time with her.

After a few minutes of small talk, we reached the old school house. I always wondered why it is still intact, but I have theory. Magic.

That or just they actually clean it. The first one makes more sense.

I opened the door to the clubroom and directly dropped to one of the couches. Why is this one so stiff?!

I looked over to the other couch, and saw Koneko gently sleeping. Now I get why she sleeps there! It must be the best place to sleep… How does she come here so quickly? Now I want to sit there!

I heard the door open and saw Kiba entering with his usual smile. He always looks so perfect, and here I am half dead with a headache. He must be using some devil magic I don't know about. It's impossible to be like that every day!

Ignoring everything around me, I decided to fall in the arms of Morpheus.

* * *

Rias was having a nice cup of tea while reading some reports of her territory. Everything seemed to be normal. No fallen angels. No stray devils. No exorcists. It seemed that since the last attempt of the fallen angels, everything had cooled down. The humans were still doing their crimes, but that was not her responsibility.

"Uh?" She was passing through all the petty crime, that couldn't really be stopped, but there was something that caught her attention.

It seemed like all kinds of crimes had went down... In favor to a new type of material? It looked more like a new medicine. Meds and drugs are technically the same, except for the dose.

The people describe it as fire and a good healing effect. That sounded awfully like the phoenix tears. But that was impossible, maybe it was just a coincidence? After all, phoenix tears are difficult to create, and even the water annuls their effect. Not to mention the low probabilities to replicate them.

"Akeno, did you know anything about this?" She handed over the paper to her. Everyone was already there, but this wasn't important enough to bother them. After all, Koneko and Issei were sleeping.

"It should be a coincidence… Do you want me to investigate a bit more, just in case?" Akeno offered.

"Yes… It's been a while since something strange happens. " Rias leaned back in her chair and watched the pile of informs in front of her. She needed to relax…

"Buchou, can I go home? I feel sleepy today…"Issei stood up and looked at her with a tired face. Maybe he should sleep alone…? Well, one day is one day.

"Fine... do you want to go to a coffee shop? Maybe you'll get better if you drink some coffee…" Issei's eyes instantly shined.

"Yes! I mean, if it's okay with you… I know this one place… Lapis Lazuli!" It would be good to pass some time with him, not to mention that she needed some relaxing.

* * *

This damn headache is killing me. Not literally, but you get the similitude. At least, after being with Buchou and now that I am in my bed, I will sleep in no-

_Ding dong!_

-time… Oh my god… Satan… Whatever. Now who is it? It better be important!

Somehow, I didn't break my head going down the stairs, and I reached the front door in no time. I just want to sleep! I don't think it's that hard to not bother me for some hours!

I opened the door to see a tall, muscular young man with black hair and dark brown eyes. He wears a cream-colored jacket over a dark purple T-shirt and grey jeans.

"Hello, my name is Kisaragi Shizuma. Are you Hyoudou Issei?" The man had a subtle voice. He looked like the typical man that gets killed in a horror game… It's the first thing I thought.

"Uh… Yes? What do you want?" He isn't going to kill me, right?

"Don't worry, I'm from the Metropolitan Police Department. Are your parents at home?" He said, showing his police badge. Now that you look at him, he does look like an investigator.

"No, they are on a vacation. Did I do something wrong?" Is it because I stole some pencils from that store? It was only… like seven of them!

"I hope not. I just want to ask you some questions, if you can." I have really nothing to hide. I mean, I haven't broken the law… Well, I do have to hide that I'm a devil. But he isn't going to ask that.

"It's fine." Now that I remember, the police cannot interrogate me if my parents aren't around. I'm still underage in some things… so actually I don't know.

"Have you ever seen this girl?" He handed me over a low quality photo of a boy and a girl walking down a park. I could tell the boy looked like me, but the girl was…

"It's strange, all the other video cameras around show nothing in this point. However, this older model took this frame before breaking. Our database said that the boy was you, but it didn't found anything about the girl." I don't think she is even a girl. Raynare was… A nightmare for me.

"I did meet her once, but I've never seen her since. Why ask about this? It's very suspicious, if you ask me." Where is Buchou when I need her? I don't really know what to say to this guy.

"I can't tell you, but let's just say we need to find some leads. And we found the footage around the park corrupted. I'm just here to confirm if that frame it's just a bug, or if it really happened." Oh… I think I screw this up. I could have just lied to him!

"Well… Is that all?" The man put away the picture in a small notebook, before looking at me again.

"There is something else. Have you seen somebody suspicious around this area?" The man's glare turned more serious.

"No. If you ask me, you're the first suspicious person I've seen around here." That's actually true.

"That's good. If you ever see something out of place, I'll be very grateful if you call me." He gave me a small paper with his number on. It looked all fancy with the colors and all.

"Have a nice day!" The man waved at me and I closed the door.

That was weird. I think I should tell Buchou about this. After all, it concerns us… I hope she doesn't get mad. But I'll do that after I sleep in my bed…

* * *

Walking through the streets, there was a young man. He had recently bought a long black coat, and hid his head with a hood, accordingly with the cold weather that had strike Japan. It was strange, as summer was going to appear in a month or so. Mother nature is sure crazy these days.

The man was heading down the central Boulevard. There were many alleys around here, perfect to make a quick getaway, or to meet with someone. He hoped that the first option wouldn't happen this time.

He was currently following another man. An officer, Shizuma, if he remembered correctly. And by the looks of it, he had noticed that he was after him. That was good, after all, he wasn't following him with no reason.

The officer turned towards an alleyway, probably expecting him.

The moment the man turned the same alley, the officer grabbed him and pinned him down in the ground. Even though the officer was more muscular than him, it didn't matter to him.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?!" Shizuma said to him. The young man's eyes weren't visible as his hood was still on. The only thing he saw was his mouth, which had a calmed smile.

"Calm down… Is this how you treat a messenger?" Shizuma released him, but didn't let his guard down.

"Answer me. Who are you?" The young man stood up. The wind waved his long coat, surrounding him with a strange aura.

"You don't know? I'm hurt, Shizuma-san. After all, aren't you investigating me?" Akasaka almost immediately pulled out his pistol, and aimed at him.

"Maou?! Why make such a bold move?!" He started to sweat. This man was like a snake, escaping everytime they found him. He had also gained his reputation by sheer force. And that in such a short amount of time… This man was not someone you wanted to mess with. That was if he was a person. The people described him as a _devil._ His name suited him perfectly.

"I'm sure you have noticed the lack of footage, right? I'm not here to fight, I just want an alliance. To fight something that requires the whole humanity." The policeman looked at him skeptically. This man was truly insane, but he controlled everything perfectly.

"Tell me, do you believe in any kind of religion? Doesn't matter. Do you believe in paranormal stuff? You know, aliens, dragons… angels."

"…Yes. What's your point?!" He decided to play along, to see what this man wanted.

"They exist. The lack of footage? You could say it was magic. That girl was a… paranormal being. You are not stupid, so I see that you understand what I'm trying to say." What was the point of all this? Maou was a paranormal fanatic? It could explain his name…

"Humans haven't been able to fight these beings without the help of a greater being… But that will change. Tell this to your superiors. At least tell him about our meeting. Tell them I want a… private exchange of information." Maou wasn't expecting him to believe him. But he would. They all would. Humanity wouldn't be a farm for devils, fallen angels or angels. Not anymore.

"Where do you think you're going!" Maou didn't stop, he wasn't threatened by a pistol.

"Go ahead, shoot me. It won't make a difference." He didn't even look back. But the policeman knew better. That criminal needed to be sent to justice, and his death, even thought satisfying, it was just a temporary satisfaction.

He left the alley and made his way towards the abandoned district of the town .He needed to prepare some games for Rias Gremory… they had taken the bait. However, he needed to train, before his headache returned.

He reached a small warehouse. Even though it was rather small, it had a very wide basement.

Here he could summon his sacred gear and train all the time he wanted. It didn't matter if he reached his full power, the building wouldn't even feel it. One of the benefits of being in an anti-seismic building.

An old man entered his domain. He was a messenger, he didn't know what he carried, and was just told simple tasks. Whoever captured him would only know the localization of his temporary hideout.

"There is a report for you." The man bowed, and gave him the letter. As soon as Maou grabbed it, the messenger left with a dazing speed.

"Kokabiel, uh? He is doing too much noise… Seems like I need to teach some respect, I always wanted a crow as a pet." Maou smirked. He had trained for almost two weeks. He needed some challenge to test himself. He threw the papers to the ground and went over to some .

He had just thought of a very fun game…

* * *

"Where are my fluffy pillows…?"

Uh? I didn't fall out of the bed. Yesterday was sure tiring. I had a good nap, but then I studied with Asia. I realized I don't have a chance to succeed, but at least I'll die like a man! The best-case scenario is to have four out of ten.

Buchou is not here… yesterday she said something, but I can't remember. It shouldn't be that important. After all, nothing much has happened since the Rating Game. Well, except my headaches.

My bed is sure big… Actually, it's pretty normal. Maybe is because there aren't any more persons here. Since when was the last time I slept alone… That sounds weird. Let me rephrase that. Since when did I sleep without any girls? That sounds weird too. Whatever.

After eating breakfast and going towards school, the clouds cleared out, and the sun started to rain hell on earth. This weather is going to kill me someday! Yesterday rains, and now the ground is melting. Can't there be a typical day in this town?!

"By the way, where is Buchou? She said something yesterday, but I can't remember." I asked Asia.

"She didn't tell me anything… We talked about how she wasn't showing up, can't you remember?" She looked at me, tilting her head.

"N-No… Well, I was tired. I probably just forgot." I'm mixing my thoughts. At least today I'm not tired.

"Umm… Maybe she called you?"

"She wouldn't call me… If it was important, she would have done that teleporting thingy." Which I can't use. That's very frustrating, if you think about it. My magic sucks, and my spells suck even harder. I need to stop thinking in sucking.

"Anyways, we still have to study today. Maybe I should ask Motohama for help… For some reason, he gets better results than me." And we both know that he isn't that smart. He must have a secret! Perhaps he actually studies more than us… which isn't believable. Do those glasses give him super powers?!

"Why don't we ask Kiba-san? He is in our same grade." Asia suggested. The day I ask him for help, the sun will be taint in red. And not the good kind of red.

"That would be as admitting defeat! I refuse to do that!" Maybe I overdid it. But she gets the point.

"Isn't the same asking Motohama-san for help?" She said with an innocent tone.

"Uh… No. Yes. We are going to be late!" I said as I started to go faster.

I dodged the bullet on that one. Not in the matrix way, but it didn't hit me.

A few classes later, the lunch break started. It was the best moment to ask him! Although it seems that Matsuda had the same idea as me, this can only help me more.

"Come on! You must be cheating or something!" I heard Matsuda yelling. I approached them, getting on the same side as him.

"I don't fall that low! I just have a good technique…" He said while cleaning his glasses. He was definitely hiding a smile.

"If you don't cheat… How do you study? There must be something." I said. His eyes started to shine, but his glasses quickly covered them.

"If you two want to know… I'll tell you my secret!" The three of us got into whisper range. Enough so nobody else would listen.

"Before I start to study, I get a good motivation! For example, if I get X grade, my parents will give me money, and then I'll be able to buy a pair of binoculars! And then with those, I'll be able to see…" I stopped listening there. Motivation…

Maybe… I'll ask Buchou that If I get a certain note, she'll need to cover parts of her body in cream… and then Akeno should start to lick the cream away… and like she'll need a bit of help, I'll come in to help her and-

My nose started to bleed at those thoughts. I don't know if I have the guts to tell her that… But I actually don't need to say it! I'll just tell her some kind of reward! Oh Issei, you are a genius! When do I have more exams?! I didn't think I would ever say that! I'm excited! In every way!

After that, I returned to my desk. I finished my meal quickly, because now I KNOW what to do! This only adds up to my list of must do! Like being the harem king! And the strongest pawn! And something I'm missing…

But first, I need to go to the club… After the classes.

**A few hours before…**

"What's wrong Kokabiel? Where is all that bravado you were showing before?" The fallen angel was on his knees. He had been beaten… Even worse than that. The power of that devil was overwhelming. How could he, one of the leaders of the Grigori, lost like that?

"You were trying to start another war… That isn't very fun, you know. But since I'm a kind man, I'll give you another choice." Maou was very happy with himself. He had beaten the fallen angel without the Balance Breaker. The night had surely helped in getting a plus of energy.

"You can't blackmail me! Once I get out of here you-" Maou kicked him in the head, throwing him back a few meters.

"Shh… You talk way too much. Who said that you won't get your precious war? You would just have… a new challenger. ." Kokabiel looked at him, confused at his words.

"I want you to give me everything you know about the underworld. Do this, and your war will even have a new participant." Maou was carefully thinking his choice of words. Kokabiel would surely rebel against him. But didn't matter, as he was going to be locked in… one day or so. However, he actually needed the lowest kind of confidence.

"What do you mean?" Maou smiled and offered his hand to him.

"Humanity, my friend. 7000 million humans." Kokabiel understand it… The humans had surely evolved since the last time. The war would be longer if it had a new participant, and the devils would still get new peasants… only more forcefully. But it was stupid.

"The humans? They cannot even hurt the weakest of us! Maybe if they all had a sacred gear, but everyone? They can't even unite with each other!" The fallen angel yelled, refusing his hand.

"That's true, they aren't united. But if history has made me learn something, is that when there is a great foe, even the most hated rivals unite against it. World Wars, Napoleonic War, The Reconquista, The Crusades. Humans unite against a greater enemy, and the outcome is tremendous… most of the times." Maou said while hiding sorrow. He didn't mention how much all the persons suffered, being thrown to the ground and being treated like animals.

"…Even then, they simply cannot hurt us. We are mightier beings than them." Maou's smile disappeared for a second, disgusted at those thoughts.

"When my research is done, the human army will be more than a match for every… 'greater' being, as you call them. Do I look like the kind of guy who lies?" Kokabiel obviously thought that, but right now he didn't have another choice. He would kill this guy, the moment he let his guard down!

He accepted his hand.

"That would be more enjoyable… Who are you?"

"You don't need to know… just call me Maou." He turned around and grabbed his black coat that he had taken off before starting this fight. The sun was starting to rise.

"We'll meet again in that abandoned church. Make sure to bring that crazy exorcist and whoever else you have."

The exorcists sent by the angels would be here soon. Those holy swords were a tasty bounty, but they were just another toy for him. Kokabiel's useful life and plan would end tomorrow, he couldn't afford his stupidity to oppose him.

His headache was returning. Tomorrow… more like this day, was going to be fun. Rias and her peerage would know to not underestimate him… After all, there was only motive to do all of this. Demonstration of true power.

* * *

Now it's my chance! I have left quickly, as fast as I can. And if that girl has arrived before me, I swear I will bring… I don't know, something she doesn't like.

I opened the door to our clubroom. Almost everybody was there waiting for us. Even though Asia is hardly keeping up with me, I was kind enough to slow down for her. I'm still hum- I have the lowest grade of gentleman.

"Now that we all are here…" Buchou started to say. How did everybody get here before me?! Those fancy magic circles of doom…

Ah damn it, I didn't know we had a meeting. Ah yes, I need to tell Buchou about that investigator… And about my motivation… Don't think about it now! Relax, and hear what is going on.

"We have to take care of a… stray devil. We don't know much about him or her. Just that the name is _Maou._" Oh, another beautiful devil that-

"M-M-MAOU?! Don't tell me he is super powerful and he will kill us all?!" I ! I want to pass an exam and get my reward before I die!

"It's just a nickname, Ise. That devil isn't anywhere that level." Buchou laughed a bit at his concern.

"Are you sure he is a stray devil? You don't say with much confidence." Kiba asked, looking carefully at Buchou.

"That's the thing, we don't know what this devil is. He or she appeared out of nowhere, which is even more troublesome. So if there isn't any complains, I want to investigate the town." I'm not the smartest guy in town… but there must be something else, right? Maybe there is something else…

"Um… Why are we doing this? Did he do something bad?" Asia asked, hiding a bit her face.

"Maybe. Something very shadowy is around this guy, but I want to make sure. Perhaps I'm wrong…" She said trailing off.

"Seems fine to me! But… Uh… Asia and I have to study later. It's not that important really…" Helping Buchou is priority number one! However, priority number two has some nice rewards… if it works.

"It won't take that long, just a quick research. So, everyone agrees?"

After voting the groups, three teams were decided. It was going to be, Rias and Akeno, Koneko and Asia, and last but not least, Issei and Kiba. A strange coincidence that the two boys available were in the same group.

"Remember, try to find something suspicious, like this symbols. Apparently this is his trade mark." She showed a photo with a small X in a circle. For me it looked just like any other graffiti in town.

"…That is quite common." Kiba said, looking at the picture.

"It's all we have. This devil is quite meticulous. It's all we have been able to find." Buchou said. My head started to feel light… Come on, not again!

"Good luck!" Before I realized, we were already alone.

"Let's go downtown. I'm sure there are going to be plenty graffiti to check out." Kiba said while pointing with his hand at the end of the street. Since when is he the leader of the group?

"Whatever… There should be a lot of people there. Do you think it's a good idea?" I tell the pretty boy. He looked at me and smiled.

"Stick close to me, and we won't get lost." It's very creepy if you say that while smiling like a mad man. Not to mention I want you at least two meters from me.

"…Let's go before I lose my head." I said, leaving behind prince charming.

This headache isn't like the others. I feel with much more energy, and I can think straight with it. Maybe is because the amount of people here just makes me forget of it, but it's good to see some advance in my… condition. I don't know how to describe it.

However, that sensation was short lived. I looked around to see that Kiba wasn't with me. My headache started to consume me again, but I stayed strong and tried to find the Knight. He can't be that far away.

* * *

Kiba was just thinking the same. Issei was there for a moment, and disappeared in the next. He started to look around him, but with all the people, it was difficult to find him. He could be just beside him and not notice. After some long five minutes, he gave up and grabbed his phone. He didn't have Issei's number, but he could ask the others about it.

As soon as he grabbed the phone, someone started to call him. It was Rias.

"Kiba? We need to meet up. Go to the abandoned church, something has happened there." Her voice showed concern. It was definitely something important.

"Roger that. Could you call Issei? We got separated, and I haven't been able to find him." The Knight asked. There was a pause in the conversation, but Rias replied.

"Yes, just come here as fast as you can." Kiba nodded to himself, and stopped his search for Issei.

He noticed that it would take several minutes to reach there, if he didn't use his great speed. Though he couldn't use his powers in front of so many people, he could move fairly quickly without raising suspicion.

After some minutes running, he noticed that he was already able to see the church in the distance. It was strange to simply go there, so there should be something very important. What could exactly be?

Rias stared down at the amount of black feathers in the ground. A fallen angel had most likely died here or at least greatly damaged, that was for sure. The benches were all moved from their original position, something had pushed them back.

"There is blood here." Akeno said, looking at the ground. "…It's warm." She pointed out, touching it with her fingers.

"It should be… what we felt was demonic power. Whoever did this, it's still around here." Rias said, looking around the church.

There was something wrong. What was a fallen angel doing here? Who killed him or her? If it was Maou, then this suddenly gets worse. This could be a reason for starting another great war...

There should be some clues in here. Nothing is perfect, especially crimes like these.

Rias carefully looked the feathers in the ground. The only sign of blood was scattered all around the feathers. Something had attacked him in an instant, probably exploding one of his limbs. It was rather sick.

The body was nowhere to be found, which meant that either he had moved it, which was not very probable as there were no signs, or something else happened. Perhaps it was removed with a teleporting spell.

There are no signs of blood in two locations, but judging by the splash radius, there should be blood. It probably meant that two people did the job, or whoever died had an ally that didn't prevent it. However, she could always be wrong.

"There is a note here." She heard Akeno saying. There was a message written with a strange blue.

"Street X Number Y… This was left for us." Rias said. If Maou did this, he wasn't joking around. It was like… a game for him.

"Rias-sama, what happened here?" She heard a male voice calling her. She turned around to see Kiba, Koneko and Asia standing in the entrance of the church.

"A murder, probably. We have a new location for… Issei hasn't arrived?" She pointed out. For a moment, she thought of Issei being the murderer, but it couldn't be. After all, Issei couldn't even kill a fly… Unless that fly had killed somebody who he cared for, but it obviously didn't.

"I thought you called him." Kiba said, watching the remainders of the fallen angel.

"I did call him, he didn't answer." A buzzing stopped her ranting. It was her phone. She watched the unknown number before answering.

"Buchou? Sorry! I didn't hear the phone!" A strange voice confused her by a second, before realizing who it was.

"…Ah! Ise, I didn't recognize you." She said, a bit embarrassed at her own misunderstanding.

"I get that a lot… What happened? I lost Kiba ten minutes ago… Is that why?" She moved her hand, pointing out to the entrance.

"Yes and no. We need to regroup in this location…"

* * *

Where the hell is that street? I think it's around here… but I've never been here before. It looks like everything has been shut down around this area. This looks just like those movies where the killer hides here, and then fights off the detective who is out to hunt him. But that only happens in movies. Fortunately, my headache doesn't hurt that much, so I don't have to worry about that.

Speaking of detectives, I need to-

"Ise? You got here fairly quickly." Everyone was already waiting for me in front of a small warehouse.

"Yup! So, why are we here? This looks deserted so far." I haven't seen anybody since I entered this street, and sounds of the cars can only be heard in the distance.

"There must be something in here. I don't know if it's dangerous, but better be cautious." Buchou said. I looked at the worn out warehouse. All the windows were sealed, boarded up with wooden planks. A gate was the only thing that separated us from the creepy building.

"Kiba, Akeno, scout the surroundings. Search for traps or escape ways." She commanded. They both entered the enclosed area, one by foot and the other by air. Isn't she afraid of someone catching her?

"Koneko, guard the gate. If somebody comes, warn us as soon as you can." Koneko nodded, and we left the gate behind, only to stop before the big iron door. Asia stood behind me, as I can't really see her, I don't know if she is scared.

"Ise, start gathering boosts. Just in case." She is just like a master tactician giving orders!

"Alright! **Boosted Gear**!" It has been a while! I don't remember it reaching past my elbow. Maybe it did, but I just did not notice. Anyways, perhaps the appearance doesn't equal power. I do think that number of jewels represents my power, but the red armor is just for protection.

_Boost!_

"So, you have to study? I can be your tutor, if you want." Buchou said while grabbing my right arm. That's actually the best idea I've ever heard this day, just a bit better than my motivation plan! Speaking of which…

"B-But Ise promised that he would study with me!" Asia grabbed my left arm, pulling me with her. Intervene! Intervene before something bad happens! I like my arms where they are!

_Boost!_

"C-Come on, we can do both things at the same time!"Hey, It would be like a threesome!… in studies. Why does this never work?! Now they are going to pull apart my arms and then throw me down the rancor pit!

"We haven't found anything. No traps and no escape ways."Kiba appeared out of nowhere. This is the first time I'm glad of seeing him!

_Boost!_

"Good. Ise, do the honors." Buchou and Asia released me, and I headed towards the metal door. With three boosts gathered, I easily broke down the door, which made an audible sound. A strange smell invaded my nose for a second, but as soon as it entered, it left.

The insides would be pitch black if we didn't have the ability of seeing in the dark. It was probably around 15 meters wide. There was glass scattered around the floor, with many broken planks. Just in the middle, there was a small box. Probably the thing we were looking for.

_Boost!_

The voice of Ddraig resounded all around us. I entered the warehouse, but something stopped me for advancing more.

"Akeno? What's wrong?" I looked back to see Akeno grabbing a small piece of wood.

"Think before you act. Maybe there was a trap…" Seeing her serious was strange. And that scared me. A lot.

She threw the fragment of wood forwards, hitting the small box in the middle. Nothing happened.

_Boost!_

"You're starting to scare me…" I told Ddraig, while looking at my left hand.

I looked back at Akeno again who smiled in response. Kiba was going towards the left, close to the wall, and the Queen towards the right, doing the same thing. Wouldn't make more sense to send Koneko in this?

I started to walk, not before watching where I was stepping. The sound of crystal shattering below me was a constant sound, even unnerving.

_Boost!_

Ddraig was just messing with me right now… I stared at the box in front of me, it looked like a small treasure chest, but without any lock on it. I opened it, not realizing it would be a big mistake if this thing exploded or something.

"Buchou! There is a note in here!" I yelled. It was only a wrapped paper, but there was something strange in it. The box also looked smaller in the inside, so it should have a hidden room…

"What does it say?" I heard her voice replying. Carefully unwrapping it, I saw only three words.

_Boost!_

"Oh the humanity?" What the hell does this mean? It sounds like an opera. I heard Buchou yelping over something.

"Get out! RUN!" Her distressed voice made me immediately nervous. Not knowing what was going on, I turned around and started to run. Akeno and Kiba reached the entrance at the same time as me, but then I turned around. I forgot the box!

"Ise! What are you doing?!" Buchou tried to stop me, but I was already running towards it. I grabbed the box but it didn't move. It was stuck in the ground!

Putting a bit more of strength, I broke down the floor below the box. The smell I had felt earlier returned. It smells like… gasoline?!

_Boost!_

"Oh shit!" With all my speed, I left the warehouse in less than a second. For some reason, the warehouse exploded behind me, leaving me with a few burns.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" I yelled, watching the fire consuming the remaining of the warehouse.

"…The note was a reference. 'Oh the humanity' is what a reporter said in the Hindenburg incident."Kiba explained. That was the dirigible that exploded, right? If I remember, it was because hydrogen is highly inflammable, and the electricity made it into a mess.

"Um… Why did it explode?" Asia said, while healing the small burns I had.

"I think there was gasoline in there… the moment the door broke down, a counter started. I don't have any other explanation." Akeno briefly explained. Everybody nodded in response. Everybody except Buchou.

"Why did you go back?! You could have died there!" Rias was a bit upset… with 'a bit' I mean a lot.

"There was something else in that box!" I opened it, showing the smaller interior. "It's smaller! So there must be something else…" Now I feel bad for running in like a jackass.

"I don't see a difference." Koneko said, looking inside of it.

"It looks the same to me…" Asia also told her point of view.

"…The perspective! I'm sure there must be something…" Buchou was looking at me sharply, like I had broken her favorite toy. I used my sacred gear to make a dent in the wooden box, revealing a cubbyhole.

There was a letter, quite fancy if I say so myself. The paper was soft, and it had even a seal on it. It looked foreign to me. However, what really surprised me was the name in the front.

"It's for you." I gave it to Buchou, who changed her expression into a more determinate one. Was she expecting this?

She opened it with her own finger, and pulled out the message. It was not hand writing, it was written in some computer program, at least that's what I see. After a few seconds, her eyes widened for a bit.

"I'll read it out loud… _Hello, my lovely King. I hope you or your peerage doesn't have any burns. Please, read this to your group. I am currently preparing some good varieties of games for your so called family. It would be very boring if only you and me played, right? The fact that you are reading this means that you passed the easy test of history. That would also mean that you know of me, Maou."_

"That's the guy we are after! Why is he doing this?" I snapped for some reason. Everyone looked at me. "Sorry… Continue."

"Ehem… _You must be wondering the reason of all this. It's quite simple. I'm the finger and you are the trigger, I just need to pull you… and everything will change. Your Rook, Queen, one of your Bishops, Yuuto Kiba, Asia Argento and Hyoudou Issei are just in the middle, so don't expect them to go out flawlessly. Before I leave, I must tell you that the fallen angels have just lost a rebellious leader. I wonder who did it. _There is also more addresses written here..._"_

We kept silent for a second, trying to absorb whatever this was. For some reason, it made me feel very uncomfortable when he referred to me as my name…

"This is disturbing… Why refer to some of us with our names, but the others with the pieces?" Kiba said, acquiring a famous detective expression.

"He obviously did it for something… But the last two sentences... The feathers we found earlier, did he do it? If so, Maou is very dangerous." Akeno said, also with a serious face.

"Whatever it is, we need to capture him. He has no right to do this in my territory, much less to kill a fallen angel." Buchou said with a weird expression."There are four more directions."

"We can't do it in groups... Then two of us will go back." Kiba said as he looked at us.

"Ise, Asia, you two can leave." Buchou's message disturbed me. But I want to help...

"Well... I'm not really good with mysteries. I feel like I will get in the way. I guess it's for the better." I said honestly. I'm not a criminal mastermind, and I don't read books about murderers. As far as I know, the culprit could be in front of my face and not notice.

"I feel the same way… I want to help, but I don't know what to do…" Asia said beside me. Buchou sighed, and looked at the raging flames near us.

"You both can go home. Ise, protect Asia. Right now, we must be more cautious… And we should move out before somebody comes." She is going to call the fire department, right? Anyway, we should move.

"See you all tomorrow! If you need us, ask right away!" For some reason I don't feel troubled at all. I feel kinda happy, which is strange. A man has just threatened my friends and me but I feel… passive. Maybe is because I haven't studied yet…

For some reason, I felt how Kiba watched me leave with Asia. Maybe I did act a bit weird.

After separating, Asia and I headed home. This should be a perfect opportunity for some good old motivation plan! Just breathe calmly…

"Uh… As we have little to no chance of passing this exam… Well… How about if I get a high note, you must be my personal maid for a day?!"

Yeah! She should call me Issei-sama, and do whatever I want! From 'Good morning' to 'Good night'! And seeing that tomorrow it's Wednesday, the probability of having the exam corrected by Friday is quite high! Which means a whole Saturday with Asia as a maid! I should also buy a costume, but a smaller size! I should probably return to Earth.

"That's very strange." Indeed it is! I mean, no!

"I-It is? Well… You can get the same reward! Or whatever you want!" I just need her to say the magical word!

"I can have Ise-san as my maid?!" She was strangely happy about that. Oh… I should have specified that one. I hope she doesn't have the same motivation and then she passes… I would get wrecked.

"Y-Yes… whatever you want!" Please, let it work. She is actually thinking of it, this must be good!

"It will be fun! I accept!" YES! I dropped the box in happiness, and a piece of wood flew away.

"Uh? What is that?" Asia pointed at a small plastic bag that popped out of the box. It had some kind of green plant inside of it.

Great, now I have drugs.

"I hope this isn't what I think…" I caught the box and the small plastic bag. I opened it to see if my fears were correct.

The smell was like a musky kind of minty-ness. It wasn't unpleasant, like it was mixed with lemon balm, grass and mint. It definitely has something magical in it, as it feels... like getting a boost. It's a strange sensation to explain... What the hell was this? Hell-pot?

"It seems… like a strange tea. Better hide it until tomorrow." I explained while closing the bag. I hid it in my pocket, and kept the box just in case. Asia nodded, but was still confused.

So, today I have gained some strange herbs, Buchou got mad at me and some person could harm me or my friends in any time. Not to mention that I have to study a lot! And I haven't even told Buchou about that investigator… Oh well. Life as a devil isn't that fun in this moment.

* * *

"Maou isn't stupid. He obviously mentioned their names for some reason." Rias was walking along her fellow Queen. They were discussing the contents of the famous message by Maou.

"Kiba, Asia and Issei… It can't be because you brought them back from the dead, because Gasper would have been also mentioned…" Akeno pointed out. They weren't exactly expert investigators, but they knew the basics of research.

"They have sacred gears… then again it would end in the same conclusion. The only thing that's left is… that they were full blooded humans." They both waited at the crossroad, when she noticed another paper in the letter.

After scanning its contents, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The penmanship itself gave Rias an eerie, unsettled feeling. The writer had used a straightedge to trace his strokes, presumably to camouflage his true handwriting. Some letters had even been cut from magazines and newspapers.

"I'll be back. Stay here…" Akeno didn't even have time to answer before she disappeared.

Rias dashed out into the busy streets. She parted the crowds like a boulder splitting through a fierce current. Without letting the deluge of people slow her pace, she marched forward through Central Boulevard.

As she moved, she thought about the strange letter.

She couldn't believe that Maou would contact her so quickly... Was he stalking them?

"If no one else can find you, then I'll smoke you out of hiding myself..."

Rias already knew where to go.

She didn't waste a single minute.

The coffee shop, Lapis Lazuli. The same place that Issei took her yesterday. She pushed open the door and walked in. She immediately surveyed the premises. If her reasoning was correct, Maou should have come by here, or at least left a clue here.

However, she could not find anyone like him among the customers. Just then, a man who appeared to be an employee called out to her.

"Welcome. A table for one?" Rias thought for a second before answering confidently.

"My name is Rias Gremory. Excuse me, but did someone leave a message for me?" The host seemed relieved upon her words.

"So you're Gremory-san. Yes, someone did indeed leave a message." As he said this, he disappeared behind the counter. After a while, he returned with a small bag.

"Someone told me that when I see a strange girl with long hair, I should give this to her."

"Who left this in your hands?" She asked as she took the bag from him.

"A young girl, but she said someone else asked her to do this."

Odds were he was using several intermediaries to get in contact with her. It'd be difficult to trace any of these agents back to 'Maou'.

"Hey, didn't you come here with your boyfriend last night?" The host asked.

"Boyfriend?" She awkwardly replied.

"He wasn't your boyfriend?"

"Well…Uh, I'll leave now." Why was she so embarrased? It was only a simple question…

As she walked out, Rias opened the bag. She found only a thin cell phone inside.

She examined the cell phone from top to bottom. It was an old model of disposable cell phone. Here on Central Boulevard, you can find a lot of unemployed foreigners selling these phones. Even if the police were to investigate this matter, they wouldn't be able to find the phone's original purchaser. It would appear that Maou knows how to cover his tracks.

She turned on the phone. There was only one number listed.

The number was listed as... Maou.

Her heart raced. She dialed the number with sweaty hands. At that moment, the din of the city no longer reached her ears.

After precisely ten rings―

* * *

A weak vibration came from the left side of his chest. Maou grinned.

Trying to suppress his excitement, he took out the phone. He waited for his caller to speak first as he imagined her beautiful voice.

"Maou, right?" He was taken aback by the abrupt voice.

Maou quietly opened his mouth.

"Did you enjoy my reading my letters?" There was a brief pause, as if she were gathering her nerves.

"What do you want?" Rias spoke in a low voice.

"All I want is to play with you, in a lot of ways." Maou's voice was being distorted, so she couldn't make out the real voie.

"To play such a childish game?"

"You mean the warehouse?" Indeed, that was a bit too simple.

"That part was easy to decipher."

"Who knew that a Japanophile like yourself would know some other country's history? Did Baraqiel's daughter helped you?" He intentionally chose biting words, as if playing the part of a typical, twisted villain. But this did not deter Rias in the slightest.

"That really was a simple puzzle. I'd be quite disappointed if I couldn't even solve it." Maou had indeed do some research.

"That's my line. I would have put another puzzle... Oh, well, shall we continue playing?" Maou was feeling satisfied. She was daring, indeed.

Even as she listened intently to the phone, Rias continued searching for the location of Maou. Ignoring the devil's scathing words, she instead focused on the background noise. After a while, she discovered some clues.

"I understand now," Rias said.

"What do you understand?"

"I now know where you are. Someone is giving a speech near your location."

Rias again concentrated on the background noise. Part of the speech included the name of the town's mayor.

"So you noticed." His tone implied it would be stranger if she hadn't.

"I can find out where the speech is being held by going to City Hall."

"That won't be necessary."

"What?" She was taken aback by his words.

"Excellent. You have great observational skills." Rias finally understood the true reason behind Maou's challenge.

He wants to test her.

She was in a terrible situation. She didn't expect her opponent to find her base. Even though Rias still doesn't know his identity, Maou already knows hers.

"I'm at Central Business right now."

"Should you be telling me this?"

"Well, of course! Do you even know where that is, _Buchou_?" She hissed when she called her like that.

"You certainly know a lot about us."

"I know everything about your fellow family. The failed Holy Sword wielder, the former Nekomata, the fallen angel hybrid, the holy priestess… and that half vampire of yours!" She saw how he didn't mention Issei. Was this a flaw by his part, or a new hint?

"When people tell someone they know everything, it's usually to cover up their insecurity at the fact that there may be something they don't know." Maou scoffed at that.

"You have a sharp tongue as well." He certainly sounded happy, but his words seemed a little artificial. As a result, she still couldn't figure him out. And unfortunately for her, he was always guiding their conversations.

"Indeed, I wish to know more about you. Otherwise, why would I actively seek you out? I'm not your fanboy, if that's your answer." He said in a mocking tone.

"There's a big park near Central Business."

"So?" Rias stopped, turning around towards the direction of the park.

"Can you come to the bulletin board there?"

"Will you blow it up too, Maou? I'm getting tired distorted voice." Rias looked at the sunset. It was getting late.

"My, you're so impatient." Maou said with a mocking tone.

"In order to better understand each other, shouldn't we meet face to face?"

"A very enticing proposal. Unfortunately, I must decline." It seems Maou does not intend to show his face.

"Come capture me, Rias Gremory." This is a challenge.

"If you are indeed worthy, then I shall be your opponent." And with that, he hung up the phone. Rias sprang into action.

The park was nearby, somehow escaping the shadow of the surrounding buildings. It was quite a beautiful scene. The park was surrounded by an assortment of bustling businesses, making its presence even more pronounced.

The bulletin board was at the center of the park. Under normal circumstances, it would display the general guidelines and park rules. Today, though, it's covered in red graffiti. At first glance, it appears to be the work of local delinquents. Close examination, however, reveals that the markings are actually a rather detailed passage.

It was clear that this graffiti was the work of Maou.

_From here, the King must choose one of three paths._

_One path leads to Earth. One path leads to Hell. One path leads to Heaven._

_Truth is written on the path to Earth._

_Lies are written on the path to Hell._

_Truths, lies, and half-truths are written on the path to Heaven._

Rias immediately began to search around the park. As was indicated, there should be a message located near the path. She soon found that message near the park's northern entrance. There was a steep staircase leading to the business district. The handrail of the stone staircase bore a short note... in the same glaring red paint and long, slender lettering as the message in the park.

'_The exit of subway station 10 leads to Heaven.'_ She could just barely make it out.

Station 10 just so happens to be Central Boulevard's main station. Rias could see several red-haired youngsters loitering near the exit. She carefully examined her surroundings until she finally saw another message on the handrail.

'_Warehouse number 3 along the docks of the Abandoned District leads to Hell.' _The same warehouse that had been burnt some hours ago.

It was too far to reach by foot. However, if she doesn't go to that warehouse, she won't be able to solve the puzzle.'Tag' indeed. Do you plan to have me run around the entire city, Maou?

She moved towards an alleyway, and used her magic to transport herself towards the same warehouse.

There were still some firefighters in the area, cooling down the rests of the building.

She searched for a message from 'Maou'. She found a suspicious slip of paper around the wet floor.

'_This is not the path to Heaven.' _After reading this final clue, Rias pinched her forehead.

Now she finally has all the pieces. Which of the three paths should she take? He referred himself as Maou, so she should take the path to Hell… but that was too easy. She remembered all the letters. 'Oh the humanity' in the first one, the names of all the former humans of her peerage in the second one… It all refers to humanity, and the path that she needs to take is the path to Earth.

_Truth is written on the path to Earth._

_Lies are written on the path to Hell._

_Truths, lies, and half-truths are written on the path to Heaven._

In addition, on the handrail of the stairway near the park was the note: _The exit of subway station 10 leads to Heaven._

Beside the exit of subway station 10 was the note: _Warehouse number 3 along the docks of the Abandoned District leads to Hell._

At the third warehouse in the Abandoned district was the note: _This is not the path to Heaven._

After sorting everything, she began to analyze the information. Suppose #1 is "the path to Earth." In that case, the message found there about subway station 10, that it is 'the path to Heaven', would have to be true.

"So then, the answer is..." To find the answer, you only need to do some calculations.

Just as she was in the middle of thinking, her cell phone rang.

"Are you near the third warehouse yet?" Maou must've calculated the time she needed to reach here, and timed his call accordingly.

"I just got here."

"Did you receive the message, then...? _'This is not the path to Heaven?_'"

"Yes. I just found it."

"You really did spend a lot of time preparing for this. I can't help but laugh when I imagine Maou running around the city writing these hints."

"I didn't have to do it personally, but I guess I'm honored that my work has made you so happy."

"In other words, you have people working for you, right?"

"There are always people attracted to evil. But that's not important right now. Did you gather all the information?"

"Yes..." Rias left the remains of the warehouse, so the firefighters didn't hear her.

"Think about it carefully. I will be waiting for you. See you later _King…"_

Just as he was about to hang up...

"The third warehouse."

"…"

"If you think about it, there are only six possible scenarios. Within these six scenarios, you can disregard any scenario that involves 'the path to Earth' and 'lies'. You can also disregard any with 'the path to Hell' and 'truth'. When you do that, the answer just pops right out." Maou listened to Rias attentively.

Indeed, anyone with a good sense of logic could quickly figure out the answer. If you discard all the unnecessary information, it really is just a simple equation. As Rias implied, one can just lay out the six possible scenarios and cross out all the ones that cannot be true.

That said, Rias figured it all out in an instant. Plus, she didn't need to use pen and paper. She solved it all mentally.

"It wasn't all that impressive, maybe which path needed to be taken was more complex than this."

Maou did not respond.

Even though he wasn't the best at making puzzles... A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Rias Gremory…"

Maou finally saw the whole situation. Since the moment he had written that letter, he knew that he would be between the rock and a hard place. Rias had everything, power, connections, wealth and keen mind seemingly unbelievable for a teenage girl. That was, if that was really her age.

His defeat may now lay in a place he had always expected.

Rias would quickly break through the other games he had prepared…

It was obvious, even to him, that he was fucked.

But there was no reason to worry. After all, she just thought of him as a nuisance, a mad man that he just wanted to destroy her. But she was wrong. The true reason the games was something foreign to her, and even if she managed to find his true identity, he could eliminate her in no time.

* * *

The sun had set only moments ago. In its place came a weak summer wind, carrying a chill and dark clouds in its wake.

Pedestrians flooded the business district. At the bottom of the government office stairway, Rias awaits Maou's appearance.

She needed to bring that man to justice, before anybody tried to light the spark of war. Maou may think this is just a game, but this is a battle Rias will put all her strength into.

She waited at the bottom of the stairs. Maou would show up in any moment...

Only that he is taking too long.

She could not see anyone like Maou among the passing people.

"Did I make a mistake?" Just as she started to panic, she heard someone call her name.

Rias looked up the stairs.

"It seems humans and devils have something in common. It doesn't matter how many people are around you; how much noise you hear. You will still turn toward the person who called your name." Rias realized that she had indeed made a mistake.

She figured as long as she waited downstairs, Maou would appear there. During their prolonged game of tag, Rias had grown so focused on solving the numerous riddles he presented. So focused that she had forgotten that Maou may have set a trap within the riddles themselves. Maou now drew her attention freely, without worry, from a place where she could not see him clearly.

A man in a large black coat spoke those seductive words. However, his back was facing Rias, and one could not discern his features through the dim streetlights.

"It's you, isn't it?" Rias asked the mysterious person.

"I am indeed... _Buchou_."His voice was strong; it was definitely a man's voice. His voice sounded familiar, like she had heard it before.

"My name is Rias Gremory, but you already knew that." The girl straightened her posture.

"I am... Maou, the true protector of this city." His voice was imposing authority, but it was meaningless to Rias who had already experience with powerful beings.

"Protector? You are no protector at all! You have murderer a fallen angel, which can end in another Great War! And that's why I'm bringing you to justice!" It was a cliché speech, but it got the message pretty well.

"Murder? Start another war? I think you have gotten it all wrong. I have prevented another war." Even in the distance, Rias could see Maou smiling.

"…What do you mean?" He had ended his sentence like that so she had to ask him, thus leading the conversation.

"Kokabiel was gathering Excaliburs, which got the Church's attention. He had also prepared a trap for Yuuto Kiba, making all the three factions involved. All in _your _territory." Rias clenched her fists to suppress her apprehension.

"Excalibur? Where are those swords?!"

"They are in a safe place… By the way, I haven't murder anybody. Kokabiel just lost an arm. I sent him with the sacred gear expert. Can you see now? I've prevented another great war in… two days. The humans have sure helped me though." Maou was leaking out information on purpose.

"The humans?... " She couldn't be sure what kind of humans he meant. A magician? A sacred gear wielder?

"A fine investigator found me before you. He was kind enough to give me a meeting with some important people of the country."

"Wait… You involved normal humans?! They can't defend themselves from us!" Maou hissed at her words.

"Well, obviously. I did have to tell them that you all were aliens or something like that. Tell them something that goes against their beliefs, and they will oppose that idea… If I told them that all the religions were true it might have been an overkill. " Rias noticed how he didn't include himself as a devil, but he didn't say that he was human either.

"What are you then? You aren't a human, but you discard being a devil even if you are."

"What am I? I am the person who holds the truth of the king up high, holding the infinite hopes and unbreakable dreams and walking the path of righteousness. I am the liberator of Humanity, that will walk toe to toe with the most powerful beings of this world!" His voice was loud enough for people around the streets to realized his existence, hearing his endless rant.

Maou staggered for some reason, while holding his head. He started to scratch it as he regained his composure.

"What the…" Rias looked directly at him, wondering what it could be.

"By the way, I have called the police." Maou turned around, not before throwing her a pen drive.

She picked it up, and before she noticed, Maou had disappeared.

* * *

"That was a close call…" Maou returned to his room, not before getting rid of his uniform and making sure nobody was following him. His headache was destroying his head, he had barely reached his home before passing out. He needed to find something to slow down that process.

He heard some steps going through the hallway towards his room. He entered panic mode, and hid behind the door. Whoever it was, he would knock him out.

"Excuse me, it was sure a tiring day…" The girl stopped when she saw that there was nobody in the room.

Seeing who she was, he calmed down and tapped the girl in her shoulder.

"Kya!" She made a cute noise as she wasn't expecting that. Maou smiled honestly.

"It's…" He coughed a bit, trying to use his normal voice. "It's me, Asia."

The girl instantly calmed down, and sighed relieved. "Ise-san! You surprised me!"

"Sorry, I thought somebody had entered home and I was ready to fight him." Maou said. He looked at the girl, who was currently wearing her nightclothes and had in her hands a notebook.

"Ah… Right, I haven't been able to solve this… Do you know how?" Maou looked at the math problem. He sighed. At least the headache was slowing down… Did it have any relation with Asia?

He grabbed the notebook without exerting much strength, and Asia rewarded him with a polite smile. Maou had to admit, while this girl was a bit on the shy side, he preferred much more her personality to that of his 'master'. He could feel some kind of union between them, but just because their forced conversion to devils.

"Let's see…" He sat down at his desk, and read the formula. "Maybe it's like this?"

He started to write down an integer. He should know how to do this… He needed to do the integer to calculate the area below the arc… so then… What was next?

"Oh! I think I know how to do that!" Asia pointed out, not before touching Maou's arm. His eyes widened for a bit.

The headache… is being less aggressive with contact with her? No... it felt more like something was replacing the pain for something else. He needed to know what was that feeling.

"Asia… Can I talk with you for a moment?" He was blushing, it was hard to control that. It was out for character for Maou, and it was out of character for Issei.

Asia noticed his cheeks, and could only imagine what was happening.

"W-What is it?" Asia also started to blush when he approached her.

He knew, his emotions for Asia were more pity than love. Maybe Issei loved her in some way, but he wasn't like that. He felt saddened when he saw the poor girl, a fellow follower of christianity, excommunicated and was converted in a devil just to use her. And pitiful it is, he was one of those godless fiends who use Asia.

But in the end, Asia has no choice but to rely on us heretics. And devils can save people too, just like that night that Rias 'saved' us. There are people out there who can't wait for providence to a holy savior's hand.

Maou thought over what he was going to do… even heretics have some pride.

As he kept thinking, a light bulb appeared above his head. Maybe the feeling that was overwriting the pain was... pleasure?

* * *

**You know why I haven't updated it sooner? Because of that Rias vs Maou thing. I wanted to do it my own way but it wasn't happening. So I just grabbed a handgun and had to freaking replay that part of G-Senjou. At least I got that out of the way. **

**So before anybody complains read that plisussu.**

**And I have another 2 chapters done but... That would be too easy. Having two stories really sucks.**

**So thanks for reading it all the way. If you choose to stop reading, I don't blame you. **

**Thanks again!**


	2. Setting the Pawns

**It's not like I haven't updated in months.**

* * *

What a strange dream… I'm dreaming about doing integers. You know, I started to sleep so I forgot about those things.

For some reason Asia was also there.

"W-What is it?" I got close to her, and she started to blush.

This dream just changed in a very good way…

Wait a second… I'm dreaming. Or maybe not, it feels like I'm in third person but…

I moved my left hand, wondering why it felt so real. I have no right to complain honestly. So, do I continue doing whatever I'm doing or do I change the dream?

For some reason I feel strange looking at her… Is this right to do, even in a dream? She looks so innocent… Maybe a tease? I mean, this won't leave my head right?

Don't look at me like that! It's not real life! I wouldn't dare to do this to any person without their consent, and before carefully analyzing the situation! Obviously if some random person asked me to do this with their consent I would oppose. Hell! I would even reject Rias or Akeno if the situation was wrong!

I'm just bored! There I said it!

I lightly embraced Asia, reaching her warm skin.

When I embraced her, my lower part reacted to her soft skin.

She didn't say anything, but I was sure she would be confused. Thanks dream! For doing this less awkward!

I guess I can do a little more…

I shared a kiss with her. As neither of us had any experience with a French kiss, our tongues touched for a second, and then sloppily danced around each other. I'm getting out of control now… just a bit more!

I pulled her coquettish body closer to mine, and like that I got on the bed with Asia. Her weight was on my body, and though we hadn't quite begun she seemed to have noticed my irregular breathing.

"I-I-Ise-san? M-My heart isn't quite ready for this…" That sounds like something the real Asia would say. Her flushed face didn't help me though.

"Why, you don't like this?"

I rolled in the bed, and switched positions. I need to stop, before I do something more irrational.

Even though this is a dream, this doesn't feel quite right. I don't know why, but it does.

The only thing that this had given me is another headache. Maybe being perverted brings me the headaches… we would have a problem then! Because I know that, this problem can't be solved.

I noticed Asia's eyes looking directly at me. Those eyes looked excessively erotic with her embarrassed face. They were pushing me beyond the limit, and before I lost control, I got off her.

"Sorry…" I didn't even touch her boobs… Maybe I was really in full control.

I don't know how, but I slept in a dream.

* * *

I opened my eyes.

I wasn't in the floor, which was very good.

Did I really have a lucid dream?! That was pretty neat if I say so myself. I should have done more…

My right side felt cold, and I saw that nobody was there. Did Asia slept in her room?

However, I saw that Buchou was in the left side, embracing my left arm. She was naked… which made me a bit uncomfortable. For some reason I can't be calm with this scenario…

She was sleeping peacefully. Her crimson hair was messy, but that didn't really bother me. Everybody looks so innocent when sleeping… I guess I also enter in that category.

I wonder if someday I'll be able to do my dreams come true… and I don't mean this last one! I need to work hard to reach that High class devil ranking… Thinking of the outcome brings me a lot of energy! But maybe there is another way to reach it.

Someday I shall be known as the Harem King! And nobody will be able to stop me when I reach that category, not Maou, not the infamous White One, nobody!

For some reason I have a lot of energy today! Now I just need to wake up, turn super saiyan and do an exam! Piece of cake!

* * *

"So Maou had you running around the city for 3 hours? But you met him, right?"

We were walking towards school, and Buchou was telling me yesterdays encounter. Asia for some reason was a bit further behind me, but it isn't that important.

"We spoke from a good distance." She said. I don't know if she is upset with this, because she isn't showing any real emotion-

"Uh?"

"He was above me, and backlit to boot." She explained. For some reason that looked metaphorical.

"So you didn't see his face…" Rias looked at me for a moment, like trying to piece together a puzzle.

"No… By the way, did you study yesterday?" What's with that all of sudden? Is she… suspecting me? It looks too strange to change topics like that.

"I did. What about it?"

"Nothing, I want to make sure you get good grades." I don't know if I need to feel good that she cares about me, or sad because she suspects me. "What about you, Asia? Did you study with Issei?"

"Uh? Y-Yes… We… I asked him questions." Why does she look embarrassed? Wait, she asked me questions?

"So you two didn't study together?" What's she getting at?

"What's this all about? Are you really suspecting me?" Does she not trust me? This must have some explanation… She…

"No… It's just… that he looked like you." She replied looking at the ground.

"I thought you hadn't seen him."

"And I didn't. Her physical appearance was similar to yours… that's all." Well, I do look like the average human. Devil.

"Whatever… What did he want anyways?" I tried to change topics, as we both didn't want to discuss this anymore.

"I thought you wanted to step aside with this… Well, I don't actually know. I think he wanted to test me, and present himself." Hey, I'm just curious. That's all.

"Present himself? I'm Maou and I want to kill everyone?" I joked.

"Kind of. He said that he was… I'll explain after classes at the club." I guess she wants to explain it to us all. That's pretty lazy by your part.

"Seems fine to me… Can we go a bit faster? I don't want be late."

* * *

I'm nervous. This is the first time I have really tried to pass an exam! I swear to… some mighty being, that if I approve, I'll do a happy dance in front of the class!

But of course, like this is my mind, that won't really happen.

You know, I have this strange feeling… It's like somebody is behind me. Some kind of shadow that follows me around when I'm feeling stressed. Like in this exam. I don't know why, but it felt like somebody was helping me.

I hope it isn't Oyashiro-sama… yeah… bad reference.

But seriously, as soon as I finished the exam it disappeared. Maybe it was because I was stressed, however, if it happens again, I should tell somebody. Perhaps I'll ask Ddraig next time.

"What?! The answer wasn't an angle?!" I heard Matsuda yelling. Whatever it is, I should stop listening before I get nervous…

"Of course not! It didn't even have any relation with geometry!" Motohama replied. Well, I know of one person who isn't going to be happy with the outcome.

"Hey, Issei! Where do you think you're going!" As soon as I got up from the chair, a hand grabbed my jacket.

"I was just standing up! I didn't expect some kind of Spanish inquisition!" The look on both of their faces meant that they were spreading bad rumors of me again…

"What did you do to our poor Asia-chan! Did you rape her?!" Today I haven't- Wait what?

"No! Of course not! Why do you ask that?!" Man, they actually look serious this time!

"Just look at her, she looks more dreamy than usual, and she was looking always at you!" Motohama whispered at me. So just because she's like that, the instant answer is that I raped her?! What kind of thought process is that?

"She seems fine to me." I replied, turning back to Asia. She waved her hand at me while smiling. "I would say she's even happier than yesterday."

"That's because you're looking and she's afraid of you getting mad and raping her again!" Okay, just stop that.

"First off, I won't rape any women ever. Second, if you stopped spreading rumors about me and dedicated hem to another thing, maybe you two wouldn't be so jealous about me!" Whoa, my voice changed for a second there! And I just admitted whatever they are whispering around. Great work brain.

"…You don't need to be so serious about it!" Matsuda said. "Anyways, have you heard of that exoskeleton armor-thingy they have been developing…"

* * *

After the rest of the classes ended, Asia followed me through the hallways. She was acting strange today, at least around me. It was like she didn't know how to act around me. Sometimes she was smiling and the other she was blushing. Honestly I don't know what's wrong.

"Asia, are you okay?" I turned around to see her face. She was blushing again. Maybe the exam turned out badly for her, and she is sad about getting no reward? That must be it!

"Y-Yes. I'm fine…"

"If it's about yesterday, I won't do it again." After all, maybe it was a bit selfish. I feel like I used her to fulfill my desires! Although she also wanted me to be her maid. Does that even exist?!

"Um…If it's with you… I don't mind…" Doesn't she mean _for_ you? Oh well, I guess that's not it.

"Ah… well, good!" I looked at her embarrassed face. Those eyes… they look exactly like the ones in my dream! So innocent but yet… erotic. Is this what people call a déjà vu?

"Damn it…" My head is starting to hurt again. That's what I get for getting those dreams. It's not my intention brain! They just appear out of nowhere.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, we reached the clubroom. Koneko was sitting at the sofa, and I could hear the shower. It was probably Buchou, but I could be wrong.

I sat down in the opposite side of Koneko, and I noticed how she was looking at me. I haven't done anything bad!

"Uh… Do I have something in my face?" I asked the Rook.

"No." She avoided my gaze and looked the other way. She looked… nervous. More like impatient.

I looked over to Asia, who was sitting at my side. She was just as confused as I was. Can't blame her this time, I don't even know why she is blushing.

You know what they say about ignorance, that it brings you happiness? Well, right now, not knowing what is happening it's making me nervous. Screw ignorance.

"Do… do you have something in your pockets?" Koneko asked me. I remembered the rare bag of… herbs that I found in the box of doom. She must have a good sense of smelling to notice that… If that's what she is asking for, because then things would get very nasty.

Wait a second, if she has noticed it now, why didn't she say anything when we got the box?! It seems like somebody just wanted this scene to happen so we could get some Koneko. Or the box was enchanted. Yeah, we'll go with that. Enchanted box of doom.

"Ah yes. We found this when…" I explained the situation to her while I grabbed the small plastic bag. I noticed that this time it had a strange luminous aura around it. I'm pretty sure I have seen this before.

"Can I have it?" She was strangely amazed by it. In fact, she was following it with her eyes. The hell is this plant?

"Uh… Maybe it's dangerous. I'll keep it just in case…" She looks out of character. Well, kinda. I hid it in my pocket again after the exchange of words. Before I did anything else, a voice startled me.

"What's dangerous?" I heard Buchou saying behind me. She was drying her hair with a towel.

"Ah, I found something else in that wooden box."

I suddenly jumped on the coach as somebody launched herself at me. It was a totally unconscious movement, but somehow it had been quick.

"Konek-?!" My words were immediately cut off as she successfully tackled me off the coach.

What the hell?! What the actual hell?! I haven't done anything wrong yet! I'm a kind soul!

I expected something like... some punches or something. Seeing her unzip my pants was definitely not in the list.

Somehow, I noticed that she wasn't actualy looking for... erm, consensual meaningful sex. She kind of wanted that green stuff, which I'm not sure that she should have.

"Alright, that's enough!" Buchou stepped in, and grabbed the 'too playful even for my liking' rook out of me. I don't know how she manages to grab her by the collar like a cat, but I'm really relived to know that I won't be raped today. It's something that I actually don't want...

"Issei, take off your pants."This is just getting kinky.

"Wait, what?" She gave me a cold glare which meant serious business. This isn't some rare foreplay, sadly.

Lord and behold, as soon as I successfully undress them, Buchou literally destroyed them with her unique magic.

"There, there." She calmly caressed the resented Rook's head, as she shamefully covered herself with her hands. I get it... she didn't want that to happen. It was something that kicked in, and made her lose control.

Now she's making me feel bad. I didn't think I would cause such chaos. Although she's lucky to actually do that on me, because any other guy would not be so assertive. Wait that sounds very wrong, it sounds like I wanted that to happen! She's not lucky but... Gah, you get what I'm saying.

"C-Come on, it wasn't your fault. The only real victim here are my pants."

Guilty, I'm really guilty. If she starts crying, I will too. And it's pretty pathetic to see a pantless man crying.

I reckon my words didn't have much effect, but at the very least... she more or less returned to herself.

"So... about those pants...?"

* * *

After getting another set of pants, I pretty much heard the whole story.

"I ran around the better part of the city." Buchou played along with Maou's games and performed fairly well.

"But I still failed in the end. I didn't notice that he lured me to a location where I couldn't see him."

"In the end, what did Maou want to do?" Kiba asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. He was testing me, but he also let some information out. Though he probably did it on purpose. He had planned everything…"

"So, he is some kind of anti-hero? He has stopped that fallen angel from creating another war, but he also wants to fight us… He doesn't seem that bad to me." I admitted. Maybe it sounds weird, but think of it for a second. He has done more good than harm.

"Maybe he is… but look at this." She showed us an USB. What am I supposed to see?

"I checked it yesterday, and it looks like prototypes of new weapons and chemicals. Whatever it is, he wants to sell this to the humans." Sell it for the humans? So he just wants money?

"Why give away that information? Does he wants us to catch him?" Akeno said. I'm more lost than an elephant in the ocean.

"He wants to play with us. He has a playful mind, yet he is very clever." She looked through the window, and murmured something.

"We need to reinforce our base. We can't let him sneak in here again." She declared.

"We'll need both magical and physical traps… Ise, can you buy all the things that are in the list?" She had already a list prepared?! She is like… Lupin III!

"Nails, twenty wooden planks, a hammer and a fishing tank? Why do we need a fishing tank?" Do we plan to throw fishing tanks for defense? It's the cold war all over again.

"I want one, is there a problem with that?"

"…"

"I don't have any money on me. And how am I supposed to carry all this?" She just smiled at me.

"Be creative. As for the money… here." She handed me over a small wallet. It had every kind of bills in it. I have never seen this much money before… I forgot she is the brother of Maou… Well, that other Maou. The cool one. Why did the bad one chose that name?!

"This is a lot of money… Well, I'm off." A throbbing pain appeared in my temple. Not this again…

* * *

"Please show your mercy and charity to these lost lambs!" A familiar high-pitched voice called out from further down the street.

"On behalf of our holy Father in heaven, please show us your benevolence!" a strange voice, lower pitched than the first, closer to a contralto compared to the former's soprano, said just as loudly.

Looking towards the direction of the voices, Maou marveled as he spied on the exorcists begging for money at the passersby with a small box in hand. Behind them, leaning against the railing, was one of the exorcist's cloth wrapped Excalibur and a painting of some man with a halo.

He had been informed of both Excaliburs. Excalibur Destruction and Excalibur Mimic. He had to act firm and quickly. He didn't want the Church to oppose him, but he would not hesitate if the two exorcists needed to be eliminated.

Right now, he didn't have his normal outfit, and had to change the school uniform he had. He had just normal clothes, a gray sweat shirt with a hood to hide his face, below he had a red shirt and normal blue pants. He looked like a normal teenager.

He approached both girls. The moment he got close enough they should feel her demonic aura. There wasn't any flaw in his plan.

He called a person with his phone, hiding from their sight. Once he finished, Maou got into character.

Faking a sprained ankle, he slowly advanced towards the two girls.

"How are we supposed to complete our mission like this, Xenovia?" The girl with light brown hair whined piteously. So she is called Xenovia? "We can't fight when our stomachs are so empty."

"You're right," Xenovia sighed. "Like this, there's no way we'll be able to recover the Excaliburs."

The other girl leaned in closer to Xenovia. "Hey, what if we take some money from these heretics or one of their pagan shrines?" She whispered conspiratorially. "We could probably get a lot of money quickly that way."

"... You know if we get caught we'd get in a lot of trouble, right?" Xenovia replied in equally hushed tones.

"_If_ we get caught."

Shaking his head, Maou finally stepped forward and spoke. "What the heck are you guys doing?"

The two exorcists fairly jumped in surprise as they instantly whirled to face Maou, eyes wide with surprise and suspicion.

"You… You are a devil, aren't you? What do you want?" She took a quick cursory glance around. She probably thinks I have people following her. Ha, she is right!

"Uh? I just wanted to help the poor… Wait,what?!" Maou's acting skills were top notch, more or less. He took a step back, faking fear.

Xenovia smirked. "Are you afraid of us, devil?"

"Well, those two swords scare me more… W-What are you two doing here? First that fallen angel and no-" He carefully looked at the other girl… there was something familiar about her.

"Wait, fallen angel? Tell us more, devil!" Xenovia said accusingly.

"Xenovia, maybe we should…" Maou couldn't hear what she said, but he was more interested in her voice. What was it? He had heard it before, he was sure of it!

"Could you stop calling me devil? It's not like a wanted to be one!" Maou whined, faking yet again another emotion.

"Hum… Whatever, where is your master?" Xenovia said, inspecting Maou. The fact that she couldn't see his eyes was unnerving.

"I… don't really know. She only comes here once each month… Better for me. She is a bitc-"

"I don't care about your problems, tell us what you know." She said with a serious expression.

"…Or what? Um… I'm not the one stealing innocent people!" Maou bit his lip. He had almost broke his character.

The other girl flushed a bright red while Xenovia took on a tinge of pink.

"We were not doing any such things!" She protested indignantly. But then, casting her gaze nervously away from Maou, she added, "But even if we did decide to steal from someone or one of the local shrines – which we were definitely not planning, by the way – God would forgive us so long as it was from a pagan or one of the pagan shrines. Definitely."

"Really?" Maou said with mock amazement. "You know, if there is some kind of god, it's up to all of us to become his moral superior. Maybe God forgives you, but you won't forgive yourself. And I might be wrong, but I think stealing is a sin."

The girl's lower lip began trembling and her eyes turned watery. Then she broke into genuine tears, falling to her knees as she bawled loudly.

"You're right. It is a sin. Even though you're just a devil, you're right," She wailed. "But we're just so _hungry!_"

"There, there, Irina. We'll find a way to get some food," Xenovia said soothingly as she knelt by Irina's side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. From that position, the blue-haired girl glowered up at Maou. "Look at what you've done. I hope you feel proud of yourself."

Irina? Irina Shidou?! That boy was a girl?! Maou panicked as now he too began garnering much unwanted attention from the passersby, more than a few of them making quiet remarks blaming him for Irina's tears; how he ought to be ashamed of himself for it.

"Alright, alright." Maou said hastily. "Look, I was going to go get some lunch anyway… If you guys want, I'll treat you two to a meal. So stop crying, please."

"Really?" Irina said, the tears stopping instantaneously as she jumped up to her feet and brought her brightened face extremely close to his own.

"You're not lying, right?" Xenovia said unashamedly as she brought her face too close to his as well.

"I'm not." Maou said, swaying his upper body backwards in an effort to maintain his personal space. Seeing the starving look in their eyes and the thin trail of drool that dribbled down from their open, hungry mouths suddenly made Maou doubt his decision. Had he been too rash in making the offer? Shaking his head, Maou quickly shrugged that thought off. Maybe he could eat with them before he took the Excaliburs. Rias was paying anyways.

"Do I know you? You sound like a friend I had…" Irina asked curiously. Maou screamed internally. How did she know? He wasn't using his normal voice! Was there something else making her remember?

He calmed down, realizing that this was only helping him.

"Maybe, are you Irina Shidou?" Maou calmly said as he pulled his hood off. If Irina really liked him, nothing bad would happen. He just hoped that his plan worked, or everything would be ruined for him. Specially if they found the peerage. It was all or nothing.

"Ise-kun! What kind of cruel twist of fate is this that you've become a devil? Ah, I understand now. This must be a trial! A trial from God! By overcoming this, I'll become one step closer to becoming a true believer!" This was the kind of think that he hated. Unexpected problems. But Maou knew how to overcome this. Hopefully.

"Uh? Overcome how?" He was about to start running. It looked like a war declaration.

"Because I… Uh… Let's go quickly and get something to eat!" She was about to say something, but shrugged that thought off.

Maou carefully watched Xenovia, who was still wary of his movements. If there was someone he should be worried about, was that girl.

* * *

The way towards the cafe had been a staring contest. Mostly between Xenovia and Maou, but Irina had also thrown some shy attempts at her childhood friend.

"How did you become a devil, Ise-kun?" Irina randomly said. Maou softened his expression and responded.

"…Bad luck. I was at the wrong spot, at the wrong time. I didn't even had a choice. One moment I was walking down the street, and at the next moment, a mad girl had stabbed me. I lost consciousness and woke up as a devil. The good thing is that I'm mostly myself." It was the truth, more or less.

"Mostly?" Irina cocked her head.

"Well… It was a bit traumatic. You don't die every day." Maou said as they arrived at the restaurant. He held the door open for the two exorcists as they entered before following them in. "Being a devil doesn't change who I am."

"I see. In other words, you did not choose to become a devil," Xenovia said, pity clear in her voice.

"Yes… Every world spins in pain." Maou said coolly as the three took a seat in a large booth.

A waitress promptly came to where the three were sitting and delivered to them their menus and a glass of water for each of them. "Would you like anything besides water to drink?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"Water seems fine by me." Maou said.

"I'm okay with just water," Irina said.

"As am I," Xenovia said. "But could we go ahead and order our food right now?"

"Of course," the waitress said as she pulled out a pen and notepad from her apron's pocket, then looked at the two girls expectantly. "Whenever you're ready."

* * *

Maou looked at the table before him. It was completely covered with the empty plates and bowls that served as the remnants of the two exorcists' gargantuan meal. "How in the world did you two eat this much?"

"It's rude to make fun of how much a lady eats, Ise-kun," Irina scolded.

"Whatever. You wanted to know about the fallen angel, right?" Maou said, leaning back in his seat.

"Yes." Xenovia simply said.

"Well, I guess you are late to the party. He has been already sent to justice. But I guess you want to know about the stolen Excaliburs." Maou looked through the window, his plan would end in five minutes.

"How do you know all this?"

"Uh?... Well… He kinda spilled out the beans. He wanted to involve the three factions and pop! Great War achieved." Maou tried to sound as innocent as he could. It worked with Irina, but not with Xenovia.

"Where are the Excaliburs then? If you have beaten the fallen angel, then you must know where they are." Maou groaned internally. She was quite sharp, he needed to be more careful.

"In the same place where he was defeated. I'm not going to touch something that will kill me." That statement was stupid, but it worked with this character.

Xenovia sighed deeply. Maou could not decipher if it was out of relieve, or just she was just annoyed.

"And where is that place?" Xenovia insisted again.

"Following the residential area, just behind… you don't know where that is." And part two of his plan had just started.

"Oh, can you be our guide? I barely remember the town…" Irina suggested. This was being easy as pie.

"Irina! We don't know if we can trust him…" Xenovia interjected. Maou hid himself in his clothes.

"Come on, I know him! And he has been very helpful, even if he is a devil!" She was clearly supporting him. Just what did this girl think about him? A love interest maybe?

"… Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on him."

"Just follow me! I can't go very fast because of my ankle, but we have a lot of time." Maou used the money Rias had given him to pay the strange amount of food they had eaten.

Issei would have a lot of explaining to do, but that didn't really matter.

* * *

"About what you just said..."

"Yes?" Xenovia cocked her head.

"If you guys didn't use passports..." Maou's eyes widened as he came to a realization. He hissed, "You guys are illegal immigrants?"

"Shh!" Xenovia quickly said, clamping her hands over Maou's mouth as she looked around furtively. "Don't say that so loudly, you idiot! It's imperative that we don't get deported."

"Of… fine." He quickly put his hood on, without the two girls realizing. "Here, we'll get this shortcut." He pointed out to a nearby alleyway, which looked like the regular dangerous place.

"It's pretty short. Just... don't smell... or touch... or lick anything." He stepped aside to make room for them.

Even if it was an alley, it was big enough for the three of them to walk beside each other. That would be the case if a paranoid girl wouldn't be so wary about him.

"I'm not going there unless you go first." Xenovia sure was being more of a nuisance than he would have liked.

"I'd slow everyone if I go first. You two can rush through it, and I'll take my time. If you want I can stay here." Maou pointed out his 'poor' leg as he explained it.

"Fine, but don't expect us to wait too much time." And the fish has taken the bait.

"Jeez, what a horrible place." Irina said, frowning deeply as she looked at the pitiful alley.

Xenovia nodded in agreement and grimaced. "There's no one here."

"Yes," Maou said as he silently waved his hand. "There's only the four of us."

A bright flash invaded the dark alley, blinding everybody except two people.

A man appeared behind the garbage cans, and with a quick chokehold, he knocked out Irina. The power of surprise was a high advantage.

Maou's left arm was covered by a red gauntlet, and he tried to do the same thing with Xenovia. However, she had been cautious enough to jump back. That give her enough time to recover her sight.

"Damn, Shizuma. At least make a signal before you throw a flashbang." Maou jokingly said.

_Boost!_

"Don't think we are friends because of this. I'm following orders." He aggressively replied. Shizuma had been ordered to protect Maou. He did not know why they would tell him this, but he would only protect him if he called.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted! The moment I saw you, I knew there was something behind your acts!" She unsheathed the mighty Excalibur of Destruction.

"They are just girls… Didn't you say you were unbeatable?" Shizuma yelled at him.

"Oh shut your mouth. I'm unbeatable because I know which battles to fight. Now… let me play for a bit."

_Boost!_

"How will you fair against Maou's Longinus?"

Maou extended his left arm and a red aura started to surround him. Shizuma watched in awe at this supernatural act, while Xenovia started to get worried.

Maou launched forwards, his speed was still not enough to match the exorcist, and the Excalibur didn't slow Xenovia down.

He, however, was unprepared for Xenovia's method of defense. She swung Excalibur down onto the ground, causing a rippling wave of destruction to tear up the stone floor and nearby walls explosively in a line that cut into Maou's path, forcing him to halt his charge.

_Boost!_

"I don't have time for this." The policeman had already his hands in his handgun, prepared for anything. Even though, he didn't think it would work against her, she still was a human.

Without regard for common sense, Maou used the own walls that protected her flanks against her, jumping at full speed between them.

The wielder of the large Excalibur widened her eyes in surprise at the incredible demonstration of balance and agility, then narrowed them as she cleaved her sword through the nearest wall. The destructive power held within her sword was unleashed like a pressure wave, sending out an arc of devastation that began shattering every bench between Xenovia and him.

_Boost!_

Maou forcibly brought his body to a perfect halt before jumping again, crouching down in order to maintain his balance against his own inertia. Then as the destructive wave Xenovia unleashed approached him, he simply hopped off the wall and over the attack, landing lightly on the ground as the wall he had been standing on moments before broke apart into splinters behind him.

A loud bang resounded in the church's walls. Xenovia had not been quick enough to dodge an upcoming bullet and it hit her shoulder. Maou took advantage of this and hit her with enough force to send her flying towards a wall. She regained her balance in the air, but Maou was already too fast, as he struck her down in the ground. Her grip in the Excalibur disappeared when the sword was kicked away from her.

Xenovia hopelessly tried to grab it again, but she was stopped when Maou grabbed her neck.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. By the way, don't call me a devil never again."

He released her, just to knock her out with a strong punch in the face.

"What the hell…" He heard Shizuma saying behind him.

"They are illegal immigrants. Send them back to… I don't know, wherever they come from." Maou said.

He looked at both unconscious girls. He repressed his perverted desires, but kept his glare in Irina. What if…

He kneeled down in front of her, watching carefully her cute face. If he knew that she was a girl, he would have tried to stay with her. Maybe. Perhaps.

"I want this one…" Maou said.

"What? You sick bastard what are you going to do with her?!" Shizuma stopped Maou from doing something else.

"Alright, I'll get both of them. Better like that?" Maou whined back.

"That's not the point you idiot! What do you want them for?" The man released him, but Maou still had his smile behind the hood.

"Experimenting… bring them, uh, somewhere." Maou replied. He softly touched Irina's face, and he instantly knew what he felt. More like what he had not felt. That soothing feeling that appeared yesterday when he briefly touched Asia didn't appear. What was this…?

"What somewhere? I have not been informed of this."

"Well, I don't have a somewhere. Just kept them unconscious. I want that meeting as soon as possible, by the way."

"This is the last thing I do for you. I won't help a criminal, alien, devil, or whatever you are anymore." Shizuma pulled out his phone and started to call his superiors. How in the world had they end up allying with a criminal? Just because he said some supernatural paraphernalia? The government knew something else, and whatever it was, he didn't want to know.

"…Do you know why this is happening?" Maou said. His tone sounded honest, even sad.

"…No."

"Humans are a fine race. Sure, they have their disagreements, but there is something that even I have. Humanity."

"Humanity is something everyone has. When somebody loses humanity, they became rotten inside. Searching for something to fill that gap, they create atrocities, murders, tortures… But they'll never get it back."

"But following that rule, we all should be equal. Why are we fighting each other? There are greater threats, but we just let them be. And those threats take advantage of us, using us to increase their numbers, or using us as simple tools as these girls. But I know. I know we can unite, for at least a brief time. Then they will see why we have reached the Moon, why we have the ability to create machines that can fly, why we have the control of the Earth. Fuck! We are not useless." Maou, for the first time referred himself as human. Not only that, but he let his true self appear for a moment.

"You… want to help us? I don't think dealing drugs helps humanity." Shizuma replied. He couldn't lie, he felt proud that they all had accomplished such impossible tasks.

"They're not drugs. Oh, make sure to not touch that sword. And that ribbon is also a sword." He left the church, not looking back.

* * *

My headache disappeared when I was leaving the shop with a cart full of objects. I couldn't bring along the cart, so I just called for help.

"Took you long enough. Aren't you a Knight? Because I've seen turtles way faster than that." I said to the smiling boy, who was bringing a bag.

"Aren't you a pawn? Because you could have used a promotion and do it by yourself." He replied, not losing his usual smile.

"Touché. So, I don't know how we are going to do this…" I looked at all the materials I had bought. I didn't know what kind of planks she wanted, so I just bought grabbed a bunch of 2x4. They weren't heavy, but I couldn't move them at the same time. Maybe I could some fancy juggling with them.

"They don't look that heavy… half and half should be good." Kiba said, inspecting one of the wooden planks.

"By the way, why do we need these? I thought magic could do the work." I said while grabbing the materials. I forgot that I kept the nails inside my back pocket, and they were practically destroying my trousers.

"It mostly can… but if this Maou is really that threatening, he could bypass those traps." Kiba had already filled the bag that he carried, and there were 15 planks left.

"So… it's a last defense… What kind of trap are we going to do with planks and nails anyways…" I muttered in a low voice. I don't even know why I'm upset with this. I guess that last rule is still up. Ignorance is not bringing me happiness.

"I'll carry eight, and the bag too." I said to Casanova. He just looked at me with disbelief.

"Are you sure? I can carry them just fine."

"I'm a strength build! If I can't carry those lousy pieces of wood, I don't deserve my throne!" The Harem King must be able to at least lift up a mountain! Or destroy half of the Earth! Well the last one is an exaggeration… Maybe.

"Strenght build?…Excuse me?"

"What? Well, if this was a RPG I would use all my points into strength and vitality… and like you are a Knight you would use the points in Speed and… Wait, you haven't played an RPG?" He looked more lost than Asia in a video club.

"No, those are the ones with missions and stuff?" We finished grabbing everything, and we made towards our school.

"Uh, yes. At least you have played a videogame, right?" He bitterly smiled. So Kiba really was strange. Well, I mean, almost everybody has played a videogame these days…

"Have you read at least a manga?" He shook his head.

"Watched an anime?!" He, again, shook his head.

"Played football?!" This time he nodded.

"I played in Physical Education…" He knew that was not the answer I was hoping of.

"Damn… What did you play when you were a child?" I asked innocently.

Kiba's expression darkened, and I knew that I had touched something bad. I didn't know if I could push him into telling me, but the curiosity was strong in this one.

"How… How long have you been with Buchou?" And by that I meant how long had he been a devil.

"Some years…" He vaguely answered. He looked sad, all because of me.

"Oh… Then, how about after we are done with this, we go to my house and play some video games? Then we can forget about our monotonous lives! After all, even though we are friends, we haven't interacted that much!" I told him, trying to cheer him up. I didn't want to force him into telling me whatever caused that expression.

"Eh? Well, it would be nice but…" Ah no, you are not escaping me!

"It might be a good training for reflexes, you know. They say that the people who play videogames have more reflexes than the average human!" He can't deny my generous offer! Who else wants to improve while they play videogames? I know I'm not alone.

"Ok… But not too long!" He finally gave up and gave me a true smile. I don't know if I like it that much, if I'm honest. OH GOD, what if he thinks that I'm flirting with him?! ERASE THOSE THOUGHTS. No, no, no, just think about it rationally. You are just being a good guy and trying to help him have fun. Don't think strange about it. Yeah, he knows that I like girls. Totally.

"Uh… Yeah just a bit. Maybe Maou lurks around the shadows…" I said, and tried to see the direction of my feet. I can't see where I'm going!

After a few of minutes of my mind trying to clear up the mess I was thinking of, a familiar voice cut my thoughts.

"You two are late." The voice of Koneko made me fear an imminent hit in my face, but luckily nothing happened.

"I had to slow down for Issei. Apparently he can't see." I turned a bit to see Koneko, and tried to say a few words.

"H-Hello. No payback, right?" I tried to think of a nickname for some reason, but nothing came out of my mind.

Koneko grabbed half of the planks I was bringing, but didn't say anything to me. It isn't my fault… It was you the one that is addicted to that weird stuff!

"So… Why don't we think about a good nickname for ourselves?" I tried to start up a conversation.

"You already have one, Sekiryuutei." Kiba said. It sounded very weird coming from his mouth.

"Uh… but that one is for Ddraig, what about me?" I told them.

"You are also called a pervert." Koneko concluded. She hurts my pride.

"…What about you Kiba, don't you want a cool nickname?" I said to him, trying to forget all the things I lost with that last phrase.

"I guess it would be alright." Why am I still speaking with him?

"What about… The sword of darkness?! Or, demonic sword?! What about Yumi? Wait, you're not a girl…" Yeah… I don't have a good imagination for names.

"Uh… I'll think about it… Why don't you try with Koneko-san?" Kiba, you are just messing with me.

I looked at the white-haired girl who was looking forward. For some reason I feel like I should be more caring with everyone. You know, I don't even know how they ended up being a devil. And judging by the three cases I know of, two of them were because we were dead.

"Right… Let's see… White Sound? Golden White? Yuki? Oh, how about Warawanai?! Like you don't smile." Regularly. I've seen her smile like… two times. Funny thing is, I don't even remember why she was smiling. Obviously it wasn't because of my spectacular sense of humor.

"…I don't want one." Don't sound so upset, I'm trying to reconcile with you. Even though I'm a pervert, I'm still a fine gentlem… Err… I'm still a good person!

"Ah... I won't bother you anymore." I'll try something else tomorrow, there are embers still around, and it could begin another fire. I'll just cut the conversation right here.

After 30 seconds of awkward silence, we reached our club building. I looked around to see if I could see any traps, but I couldn't find anything out of place. I guess traps must be hidden, or they wouldn't be called traps. Why put traps around the trees? If somebody tries to sneak in, I think they would be smart enough to think twice about going in the forest, especially if they know there are traps. If Maou and Rias are smart, then they would try to outsmart each other. Maybe Maou knows this, and he will try to go the obvious way... but maybe Buchou thinks that he will thinks this and... I don't even know why I'm thinking this. This is just giving me headache.

"Um... It's like this?"I heard a voice saying as I reached the clubroom. Both Kiba and Koneko were right behind me, closely following me. Why did they slowdown all of sudden?

I opened the door with my elbow.

"We are bac-" My voice stopped just when I saw a certain dress in one of the chairs. "Is that a maid outfit?!" WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?! Oh no, what if my super duper plan leaked out?

"Ise... did you think I wouldn't know about it?" Buchou said with a sadistic face. Well, I'm screwed, or maybe this will take an unexpected turn that it's not going to happen.

"Know about what?" I tried to sound dumb, but it obviously didn't work with her. I carefully glanced at Asia, but she just was shaking her head and covering her mouth with her hands. What's that suppose to mean? I didn't say anything?

"Oh, you know. What's that about having Asia in a maid outfit for a whole day?"

"Hey, I didn't say anything about a maid outfit!" And I just admitted that it was my idea. Try to save anything you can! "She agreed purposely! I didn't force her or anything... Uh, I'm not going to pass the exam?" Nothing goes ever my way. Except when it does.

"... Ise, Ise. If you don't get the prize, then you'll have a punishment game." I heard Akeno saying from my right side. I'm fearing for my life right here...

"W-What kind of punishment?"

I don't think I'll ever have this kind of plan ever again. As for the punishment, I'll just say that even Kiba behind me was dragged into this somehow, and it will end badly for me. I was about to protest about Asia not having a punishment, but I don't want to be that guy.

For some reason, we reinforced some doors in the inside and some windows chosen randomly. Buchou seemed very confident about that one, but I don't know the reason. She also insisted in being more careful in the streets, and not going back by ourselves.

That's exactly why she and Akeno accompanied Koneko towards her home. And as I invited Kiba in my house, the three of us went full speed towards it. I talked with Kiba about the game we were going to play, and he showed some interest in it. Or he was faking it, which was possible.

Asia promised to watch us play, as she didn't have anything else to do. But before that she hurried towards her bedroom, claiming that she had forgot something. I could sense some agitation in her voice, but as she was already weird today, I didn't think too hard about it.

As I have my console in the living room, we headed that way.

"So, the left joystick is to move the character, while the right one is to move the camera... No, grab it with both hands... Yes, now you need to move your right thumb to use the buttons... The index fingers to use the triggers... Good!" Well, he doesn't seem hopeless. Dad can't move the camera around and only focuses in the buttons...

"And how do I improve...?"

"Well, in this game you need to be fast to dodge the attacks. The fast character is that girl. She uses a rapier, but that's not really important. The monsters have really weird attack patterns, so I don't use her a lot. But I thought you might like the challenge." Part of it was because of that, and the other part is because I can't get through this part... I don't really have that much time alone, so I haven't progressed a lot...

"Seems fun. But, if you don't dodge, how do you play?" Kiba asked me, while checking the controls of the character.

"Well, the character I use endures a lot of attacks... Oh, and he uses his fists, so I like him more. It's the easy way to the top." And for some reason he is a medic. I don't really understand this game.

"It fits your style... Well, do we begin?"

"Wait, wait! I'm here!" Asia rushed through the door, and sat on the couch at my side. She looked happy for some reason.

...

.

...

"Come on, we need to attack at the same time!" Kiba was actually pretty good at the game. At first he seemed a bit off, but he really got in the mood to play. It has been a lot since I played with somebody with a console...

"I'm on it...!"We both used our special attack on the boss, and the boss fell down in an instant! Months of suffering have ended! I won´t lose sleep over it though.

"That was pretty tough! Humans are more unpredictable than those monsters from before, but I guess you knew that already." I said to the Knight. He was like a master swordsman, so he must know all of this. Unless he thought that games didn't go that far.

"Well, I didn't think games would be this advance, but it was entertaining. I think I know why some people always play these games. I was so focused in winning that I forgot where I was." That can be said for any of us, except Asia. She was more interested in the story of the game, rather than the actual fighting.

"Why were you fighting that big guy? Did he do something bad?" W-What's with that random question?

"Well, if I remember correctly, he kidnapped children or something. The kid that accompanies the heroes was one of those children… and I think they experimented to obtain some kind of booster… At some point the kid escaped, and the heroes found her." Asia was actually very saddened by this. Come on, they are just pixels, they aren't real.

"That's horrible…" She said concerned.

"I'm going home." I heard Kiba said. I couldn't see his face at that moment, but it was very grim. Did he forgot something?

"Already? Well… Do I go with you? Buchou said to not go alone so… I can protect you, I think." Technically, the Boosted Gear can protect him. I'm not really that strong.

"It's fine. I can protect myself perfectly." He said in a dark tone.

"That's not the point. Buchou will kill me if she finds out!" She is acting more cautious, even I can see that. She would be angry with me and with him.

"… But Asia would be also alone. And didn't she proclaimed you Asia's protector?" That is not the reason… There must be something behind this.

My headache is starting to appear again… I can still be totally functional.

"But that guy doesn't know where we live, she is fine here. You also live alone, right? Then by that rule you shouldn't even leave this house." How did I come up with that?

"Oh! Why doesn't he stay for the night? Then he won't be in danger!" Asia exclaimed behind me. That's not the point I was trying to make!

"Thanks, but I'll pass." Kiba turned around, not even daring to answer to my comeback. However…

"Already going home?" I heard Buchou's voice in the hallway. I immediately went to greet her.

"Yes… I remembered that…" Kiba's voice was almost like a whisper. Something was wrong with him. Why doesn't he tell me? We are friends, right?

I focused in Buchou, who had a troubled expression. She was just at the door, but I could see her long red hair a bit darker than usual, perhaps because of the light. That was the moment that I felt how my headache faded away… Was that hypnotic?

Ah damn! I forgot to tell her about that detective-officer-person from some days ago!

"Ise, I'll go with Yuuto…" The two of them alone? Double no!

"Buchou! I can do it just fine! You can rest for today!" I tried to sound as convincing as possible, but there was no real reason to oppose it. There is no way I can win an argument with her anyways…

"No, we need to talk anyways. Don't worry, I'll be back in ten minutes." She said with an authentic smile.

I'm still against it, but I can't do anything. If Kiba wanted to do anything with Buchou, he would have done his move already. Then why am I so worried about? Maybe I'm really concerned about their well-being…?

I waved at them, and the door closed with an audible sound.

Now I'm just alone with Asia, maybe she knows something about Kiba's behavior? Though she doesn't really ask anything, at least when I'm around. Who knows? It wouldn't be the first time I get surprised with this kind of thing.

I returned to the living room, but I didn't see the former nun. That's odd. Maybe she went o sleep? No, it's only 9 p.m. and we haven't even have dinner. Did she go to her room? But I haven't even seen her going up the stairs, and I was just in the front door!

Oh no, what if she got kidnapped right in front of my eyes?!

No, no. Let's not jump into a conclusion. You haven't even started searching for her. I just thought of all that, in a matter of seconds and… Why haven't I started moving? Start searching you dumb body!

"Asia? Where did you go?" I said to nobody. I didn't expect an instant answer but my strange thoughts were wiped out when I heard her voice.

"I'm doing… doing things!" Her voice came from upstairs. When did she become a ninja? Just passing behind me without noticing her… Or I'm just paranoid, from something.

"Why am I scared all of sudden?..." I muttered.

Was it Maou's doing? But yesterday I was fine all along! It's because Buchou met with that guy… Do I just want to protect my friends? But I felt that way before all of this…

I noticed that… I'm starting to think strangely. Since the battle with Raiser, I have been having very strange thoughts, like wanting to run from Japan, or the feel to train a lot. They just pop out of nowhere, and make me feel strange around everyone. And usually after that, I get a headache. But when I saw Buchou, for some reason, it disappeared!

Maybe is because she kissed me?! But Ddraig said it was because I offered my arm to achieve the Balance Breaker.

"Hey, what are exactly the secondary effects of achieving that way the balance breaker?" I spoke to my left arm. I noticed that It was acquiring a red color, probably because of all the time I spent without somebody sucking it. Oh, innuendos, what would I do without you?

**[I have already told you. The headaches should appear because of all the stress your body has gone through.]**

"Yes, because I got strong in so little time. Bu you didn't specify. What kind of body stress are we talking about?" I felt like a light bulb sparkling in top of my head. It felt like I knew what to do and say.

**[In less than a month, your body had to suffer a lot of modifications. You became a devil, and before the eight devil pieces settled down in your body, your left arm became part dragon. I'm surprised that you haven't gone insane…]**

"But why? My organs and muscles are all the same, right? I can understand the part of my left arm, but the other…"

"Ise-san? Who are you talking to…?" I heard Asia walking down the steps, and I sat down in the couch.

"With Ddraig… Please, continue." Asia looked confused at first, but also sat down beside me.

**[The problem does not reside specifically physical body. All the strength that you are gaining is magical strength, and that is one thing your body isn't accustomed to.] **

"And why not? Asia, for example, didn't have this problem."

**[She unlocked her sacred gear as a full human, which activated her magical body. Some humans are already born with a strong magical body, I think you call them magicians. Your magical body has been transformed with the sacrifice of your left arm.] **

"Um… But the devil magic feels weirder than the one I use…" Asia said in a low voice. Well, at least now I don't feel like a madman talking to my arm.

**[Precisely… the magical body can be used in different ways, but the devil energy tries to overwhelm the other energies, which makes it more destructive than others. But essentially, the way you use it gives different types of magic. For example, imagination creates devil spells…]**

"Yeah, Ddraig-sensei, I don't see how this explains my headaches." I cut him off, before he started to explain the theory of relativity.

**[…Why do you think the amount of pieces determines your strength? When you were a human, your magical body was composed of my energy and your insignificant human part. The eight devil pieces transformed a bit more than half of that energy into devil magic. That's why you are a devil, not physically, but magically. Your body, although improved, is still the same.]**

I see... as long as more than half of my magical body is devil magic, I'll be a devil. So if I had actually trained, eight pieces wouldn't be enough to pass that 50% barrier.

"So, the number of pieces means the amount of strength your magical body has? But I thought I didn't have any magical thingy." I asked confused.

**[As I said, a bit of my energy was protecting you, acting as a fake magical body. If you had actually summoned me and trained, you would still be human. No amount of evil pieces would change you.]**

I felt like a dagger went through my chest, but I shook it off. What was that?

"I see… then the dragon arm…"

**[It broke the balance between both energies. And that gives you headaches. It should take a bit of time to rebalance both energies again.]**

I didn't feel satisfied with his explanation, but I answered.

"How do you know this? Last time, you just said that you didn't know a lot more." Does he have a library or something in there? Because not even Buchou knew this.

**[One of my last partners did some research in this. I just forgot.]**

"Right… Then, are you absolutely sure that nothing bad is going on with me?" My suspicion was rising at big steps. All of this seems overly convenient.

**[…I can't promise you that, but I'll do everything I can to protect you.]**

Those words were supposed to calm me, but I felt even more nervous. I don't know what happens inside of me, or wherever that magical body is at. What if something bad is happening and I can't tell?

"Quite the revelation. So as long as the devil energy is dominating, nothing bad will happen to Ise, right?" I almost jumped at the sudden voice of Buchou. How can she sneak by like that?! Has there been a ninja convention somewhere?

"Buchou! How do you even do that?!" I'm not sure if I meant her surprising sneaking skills, or how to make the devil side dominate. That sounds like some BDSM to me. I'm not sure if I like that.

**[…That should be the case.]**

"Good!"

* * *

After a very short night, which was contrasted by a long school day, I was heading back to the clubroom alone. Asia had devil things to do? I don't really know what she means by that. She has been acting very strangely these days… I guess it's contagious.

"Uh?" I saw that Koneko was looking at the door that leads to the room.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her. She looked at me seriously.

"No." And with that she kept her glare in the door. "Do you want to go in?"

You know, after seeing her out of the room, she is not fooling anyone!

"Sure,I hope there isn't anything in there!" I don't know why they want to make a party for me, but I'll take it! Hopefully there is some cake!

I opened the door.

"Well, if it isn't nice to- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"

In the middle of the room, there was a big and slimy crab with a rock stuck in its back. It had a strange purple skin covering his whole body. It looked at me and immediately tried to grab me with his pincers, but I immediately closed the door.

"…I accidentally set off a trap." I summoned my sacred gear, and tried to withstand the blows of the animal. It will break the door...!

"YOU DON'T SAY?! At least say it before I open the door!"

_Boost!_

"I thought you'll like it. I see certain resemblance between both of you." She just stared at me as I tried to save the door. She is a Rook! Why doesn't she help me?!

"You know what? If it kills me, it's your fault! You will absolutely be haunted by my ghost!" I heard my voice resounding in the hallways, and I noticed that the pressure from the door had disappeared.

"What's going on here?" The door opened to reveal a slightly confused Buchou. Although it didn't compare with me, as I was much more confused than her.

"What…just happened? There was a freaking crab in there!" She just looked at me like a madman.

"W-What? Koneko saw it too! Right, Koneko?"

"I saw no such thing." With those words she entered our clubroom. Maybe I'm really crazy, because I saw a smile in her lips. That lying red dragon! I knew there were mo-

"It wouldn't be a purple colored animal?"

* * *

The streets had less people than usual. The sun had brought back his usual strength, and the heat was almost unbearable. However, some casual cloud lessened the strength of the star, which made Maou's disguise much more bearable.

He had a white jacket, a red shirt and his face was covered by the shadow of a red hat. He only had to make sure that the shadows worked with him, and his face would be still unrecognizable. In a certain distance, at least.

Maou reached a park full of kids playing, but his attention shifted to the adults watching over them. He had received a message, a meeting with an important figure of the government. He was sure that this person, had at least, knowledge of the supernatural world that surrounded everything, as he had even offer him political support. Rather strange for a criminal.

He sat down in the only bench that was invaded by the sunlight. The message was clear, he had to wear a red cap, and sat down somewhere noticeable. And who would sit down at the worst place in the park?

He looked around him, but saw nobody suspicious. Thinking he had showed up early, he started to watch the kids playing… without arising too much suspicion. He checked the phone every thirty seconds, just in case.

A certain girl caught his attention. Long black hair down to her hips, and two gray eyes staring down to his own soul… Not to mention that strange Lolita outfit.

She was staring at him. And that made Maou very uncomfortable. He was getting scared, and he didn't even know why. It was surely some random kid that looked at him for no reason… But that odd feeling… She wasn't normal. He felt how every part of his body screamed at him to run and hide, but he couldn't do that. Did the fear stop his body? Or did his responsibility hold him back?

"You are much younger than I thought, Maou." He heard the voice of an old man behind him, and Maou turned around, making sure that he didn't show his face.

The man had formal attire, like a renowned businessman. He had long white hair, but he kept it tied back in a ponytail. He had a gentle expression, but Maou knew there was a serious part in it. It was definitely the person he was looking for.

He sighed, letting all that fear disappear from his body, as the girl was no longer in the park. However, he still felt observed by her glare.

"So you are the _important _person that appreciates me? I thought it would be some kind of fangirl, old-timer." Maou used a mocking tone, but the old man didn't show any concern about his words and let out a healthy laugh.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Terada Sugita, chief of our beloved town's police force." He slightly bowed, not losing his perfect smile.

"I guess you already know me but… I'm impressed! You're the first person that doesn't want me to die." Maou backed away a few meters, fearing that his true identity would be revealed.

"So, you really believe me? Do you want me to help humanity?" Maou carefully choose his words. He didn't know anything about this character, and he should take the recommended steps to succeed.

"Of course I believe your story. After all, a magician is also part of that world." Maou suppressed his surprised expression. A magician, uh?

"Magician? I've never heard of a magician around this part, much less in an important charge of the city." Terada shrugged at the question, trying to find a quick explanation.

"We are still humans, after all. The Magician Council has no rules about applying for a job, and since I haven't practiced magic in a long time, you might not have heard of me. Some years ago, I was fairly well-known. The girls screamed in joy when they heard my name." He said this last with a cockish smile, as an attempt to ease the atmosphere. And like Maou was still Issei, it clearly worked.

"I'm sure they did... So I guess you want to know why I want your help." He wondered why a magician would want his help. A new contract? It would surely help…

"Yes. Normally devils are more proud about getting help from other races. Nonetheless, you are not a normal devil." The clouds started to cover more parts of the sky. It was going to rain in a few minutes.

"I want to achieve a lot of things… But I don't have… legal power. Money isn't a problem, as I have earned quite a lot with my products."

"Oh, the fake Phoenix Tears? They only heal small wounds but, I'm curious about how you made them." His statement meant that the police force had actually found the dealers. That wasn't news for Maou, as he hadn't received any more money.

"I stole an original Phoenix tear. It was quite fun… Ravel was very interesting to play with… and after that, some happy people tried to replicate it, but as I guess you know, they get contaminated even with water." Even with that, he had achieved some vigorous pay check.

"I underestimated our technology… but time changes. You want a place to train, right?" Maou smiled.

"Indeed. I want to know how magic works. That would give the humans a fair advantage in the battlefield." Terada's smile faded away as he heard that last word.

"I must tell you that I won't help you if your objective is war. Humanity has already suffered a lot from them." The man spoke from previous experiences. A war veteran? But Japan hasn't been involved in any warfare this last half century…

"No, I guess you misunderstood me. I want to make Humanity a faction important enough to be in pair with angels, fallen angels and devils. However, these factions only see them as cattle, and the technology might open their eyes."

"A new faction…? That sounds rather interesting. Even more interesting coming out from a devil." Terada regained his smile, and gained a detective aura. He is a policeman, after all.

"The reason doesn't really change the outcome. What do you say? I'm trying to achieve this with a peaceful treaty." Maou hoped that his words would break through the old man's iron wall, but he didn't buy it.

"And those two young exorcists? They weren't really treated in a peaceful way." Why is everyone so sharp with their answers?

"They got in the way. Well, the one with blue hair did. I want to know what's so special about holy sword wielders. Like magicians, I don't know wh-" Maou was cut off by the chief's voice.

"You think that magicians don't know why they are able to use magic, unlike other humans?" Maou didn't say anything, and let the man proceed.

"We found this at the end of the last century. A gene mutation makes a certain part of the brain more active. We call them _mana lobes. _Mana or magic, flows smoothly through that part of the brain, making us able to use our magic. Did you think that we didn't search for an answer for this?" The old man smiled with a wink.

The children in the park were starting to leave, as the clouds had completely filled the sky.

"Biology… Well, that doesn't really answer why holy sword wielders are able to do that." Maou looked briefly at the sky. Fighting in the rain was way more epic.

"That would be correct… but why would you need both girls? The Church will get suspicious if they don't come back." He pointed out.

"Well…" Maou thought about it. He could let Irina leave, and tell her that Xenovia was captured… However, she would stay to find her and the holy swords…

An idea popped out in his head. A stupid idea, so stupid that it could actually work!

"Let the one with the brown hair go… Oh, and don't untie the cloth she had in her arm. Does this mean you accept my offer?" Maou had a growing smile stuck on his face.

"Temporarily. I'll communicate with you tomorrow to show you the training area." Terada bowed again, and turned around, prepared to leave.

"Wait a second. Are you in any condition to fight?" Maou had another request.

"I can defend myself… but I won't fight if it isn't necessary." His expression was serious, and that was a clear no by his part.

"Then… could you find a strong human? I don't care from where he or she is. If it's possible, one who isn't tied with any powerful faction." The old man assimilated a strange expression.

"That is really hard to find. Most powerful humans are attached with the Hero faction or the Magician Council." Maou contained a frown when he mentioned the Hero faction. They could kick his ass, but their mere existence was a disgrace for anyone who called himself human.

"Although… I think there is somebody willing to help… I'll inform you tomorrow." With that, Maou left the park. He had to change clothes again… His red cap wouldn't be necessary anymore.

* * *

Kiba clicked his tongue as the rain started to fall. He hoped that he would be quick enough to reach his home before being soaked down by it. Being a knight didn't exactly mean reaching places at a specific time.

He could always ask Tsub-

"Have we met, lonely child?" Kiba looked directly at a shadowy figure. For some reason, he couldn't help but to recognize the voice, but he disregarded that thought.

"I don't believe we have, mister…?" The knight knew who he was, but he couldn't be naïve.

"Uh? I expected more from you, Kiba. I thought of you as a detective."

"At least I have a name, and not a random nickname. What do you want?" He wasn't fooling around. Where was Tsubaki?

"Maou strikes fear in the heart of men, maybe HK would be more plausible?" The knight wondered what he meant by that, but didn't answer.

"Damn, you're no fun. Whatever, I want to give you a present. I have another three at home." Maou unfolded something he had attached to his back, and held it with his left hand. Kiba's eyes widened as he recognized the sword.

"A… A Excalibur?!" The knight's mind went wild. Was he a natural wielder? What was he doing with an Excalibur? Not only that, he mentioned that he had at least another four at his base!

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and these swords. But as a former human, I want to give you a chance. I just want a little of… symbiosis. I help you and you help me." Kiba regained his composure and looked at him dead in the eyes.

"No. I don't know how you got it, but I can't betray my friends." Maou however, didn't lose his smile.

"Which ones?" The blonde boy looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh you know. The ones who are in your heart or the ones who are in your head. Can you tell me, which ones are alive?" Kiba clenched his fist, trying to suppress his rage. Who was this man to talk of his friends like that?

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad." He took a step forward, and threw the Excalibur to the ground, making a splash as it met with the soaked floor.

He, however, didn't finish his actions, as he felt somebody attacking him from the back.

Maou had barely time to react, and a sharp object cut through his coat. He could feel how his clothes were being stained by red, and backed off, hitting his back against a wall.

"That was a… dirty move. Well, considering those two, I forgive you." Maou pressed against his wound. It was only a scratch, but it hurt like hell.

He took some time to analyze his new challenger. She had long black hair that reached her knees. Her eyes were of two different colors, and she had a naginata in her hands.

"You're being a headache for all of us. I suggest that you surrender before something worse happens to you." The girl said. He watched her somewhere before… Ah, wasn't she in the student council?

Maou checked his possibilities. He couldn't fight, as that meant summoning his sacred gear. In his base form he couldn't fight her, much less fighting two opponents. He should have thought this encounter more carefully… He hadn't thought about Sona doing something.

Maybe some rambling would get her distracted enough, leaving him enough time to leave.

"For fuck's sake, I haven't killed anyone! You could have… I don't know, asked me nicely!" Maou sighed, and looked at his stained hand. He was bleeding a lot…

"And I did. So are you going to come, or do I have to make you?" The girl had her school uniform, and the rain was making her curves even more pronounced. And no matter who was in control of Issei's body, it was still 100% perverted.

"You could have brought some more cloths, because it's reveling everything from this view…" The girl blushed, but her expression didn't change. A serious girl…?

Being perverted would get him out of the situation…

"Hey Kiba, how's the look from behind? I didn't know you were this lewd!"

It was at that moment when Tsubaki's eyes wandered off Maou, giving him enough time to run. He activated his sacred gear, as he saw how the vicepresident didn't lost any more time in that situation. The girl was very fast… Luckily, Kiba wasn't with her.

His sacred gear shined, meaning he had achieved a boost. Ddraig was aware about Issei's double personality issue, but for some reason, he had decided to be neutral. However, he could see that he preferred the original Issei, as he had told everything about magic.

Tsubaki quickly got in front of him, and readied her naginata. Maou was surprised for a moment, but quickly adopted a fighting stance sideways, making sure his sacred gear wasn't full shown. He had to do something about it…

"You know, I don't like yandere type of girls. If you excuse me…" The Queen made a quick swing with the naginata, almost letting him without his right hand.

They were fighting in the middle of a residential area. The moment they did a harsh sound, the police would show up in any moment. And the police were his… allies. But in order to make a recognizable sound, he would need something a bit…

He had gathered another boost, which slowed down her movements, but they were still extremely fast. The lack of boosts was clearly making it hard to do anything. Every time he tried to escape, the tip of the spear passed closely around his neck. She could kill him in his current state, but it seemed like she wanted him alive.

Maou jumped back, and as he was in mid air, he pulled something out of his jacket. It was a Five-Seven, a type of handgun.

He had never fired a gun before, but he didn't need to aim in this moment. Maou touched the ground and quickly pulled the trigger. The sound overwhelmed the rain, and it had gotten the attention of the nearby residents. A few of them were already looking through their windows.

"Nice meeting you. Tell your master that she can't jump into the game like this. That's against the rules." Maou pressed against his wound, while Tsubaki hopelessly watched how he got away. She saw the odd looking gauntlet he had summoned in his arm… The Sekiryuutei?

* * *

Ah man, why can't I realize that I'm dreaming? Then I'll be able to do anything I want.

This time I dreamed about…. Who was this girl? Ah, yeah, Ravel. Although I look like a woman beater in that dream, it didn't make much sense. Sure, it's a dream but… Why can't I dream happy things?!

The dream was… very strange. I mean, I kinda… hit her several times and ripped her clothes off and… this looks like rape! What the hell does my brain think I am? God, I wish I had some friends to talk about this stuff.

"Hey Issei, have you heard about thi-"

"Shut it Matsuda, I'm not in the mood!"

I haven't even sleep enough, and yesterday night I felt like crap. It feels like everything is going wrong! The moment somebody pushes me a bit more, I'll freaking destroy my computer! Uh, I haven't even used it that much…

"Ise-san, what's this?" Asia said as she handed me over a paper.

"What is it…?" I slowly read the pamphlet. Tanabata… has it been a year again?

Do devils do something at Tanabata? I should probably ask Buchou first! But with all this Maou crap, I bet we won't do anything.

"Eh? What's Tanabata?" Asia randomly asked.

"Well, is a festival where we celebrate the meeting of-" Watching everyone in a yukata…. "Yes, there are lots of fun stuff to do, like dressing in yukata, or writing down two wishes to Orihime and Hikoboshi. Last year there were only decorations but… "

We departed towards our clubroom, and I explained what we do in Tanabata. The best thing is that summer vacations are getting close. Not very close but… you know what I'm saying.

At the very least, it calmed me a bit. But I still was very upset with myself. I hope tomorrow everything goes a lot better, because is Saturday, and something very bad must happen to screw up a Saturday. And yes, I'm pointing at you, Maou.

Why can't I obtain something to skip all the boring things of life? Like a castle… Or subjects.

We reached the club building, and this time I made sure of not touching anything and going into a different path. I don't want to fight a stupid crab or Nemesis. Besides, I don't know where the lethal traps are at, so… better check my life insurance.

I knocked two times, and opened the door. I was surprised to see an unknown person talking with Rias, but I think she is the vicepresident of the student council. Haven't I talked with her before…?

I tried to dig down in that strange feeling, but the headache counterattacked my efforts for information. I talked with her… but not in the school… Agh, damn it. Maybe it's another wet dream.

"If you'll excuse me…" I heard her say before passing by me with a deathly glare. Maybe she can read minds…?

"Did something happen?" I closed the door as she left. Buchou's expression told me that something, indeed, had happened.

"Yes. Maou contacted with Kiba. Not only that, but we suspect that he has captured an exorcist sent by the Church." Well… shit.

"Oh… Why do we suspect that?" We have cameras? Wait, we have technology?

"Because we have Excalibur Destruction." Ex…Excalibur?!

"That's… bad, right?"

"Indeed. Maou is our problem, and he has attacked the Church. If this leaves the city, somebody could use this to provoke another war." I scratched the back of my head. You don't need to be a genius to see that this is a very bad problem.

"Then… we must find him quickly, right? What does he want with this?" Buchou looked at me surprised. Or at least for a second.

"He has at least 3 Excalibur, but he willingly gave one to us. More specifically, to Kiba." Does that matter? He could have given it to me. I don't see why that is important, unless…

"Did… Did something happen between Kiba-san and those swords?" Asia asked before I had the chance. She is listening also, that's good.

I moved away from the door, and sat down in the couch. I felt like something inside me had triggered, and now I wanted to help much more than before.

"Yes… It's something he must tell you though. If he isn't prepared, I can't go against his wishes." That's nice from her.

"What if… Did he lose somebody?" Maybe his parents? He didn't have a childhood… Maybe the lost of his parents by the Excaliburs made him seek revenge? It could explain why he didn't have all those nice experiences.

Buchou nodded. Then, it must mean that…

"What if he is trying to confuse Kiba into betraying us? If revenge is what Kiba wants, then by offering a Excalibur, he tried to show him to achieve what he hasn't achieved." I don't even know where I got that from, but my head was exploding in pain as I say these words.

She looked at me in shock. Was it too irrelevant? Did I say something too stupid?! Oh god, I did, didn't I?! She must think I'm stupid! This day is only going worse!

"That's… oddly specific. But I had also thought about that."

Then… To prevent Maou plans to confuse Kiba, I myself will help him achieve his revenge! If that happens, Maou won't have shit to do against him! After all, he is my friend! A very unnerving one, but still a friend!

"Ise… are you alright?" What an odd question.

"Well, some evil guy is trying to separate us, I don't know if I'm going to pass that test and that girl tried to kill me with her glare. What was she doing here anyways?" Did she find a ghost?

"She fought with Maou. It was just a report."Uh… fine, I guess.

"Hello." I heard the door opening to see Kiba. He looked pretty normal, which was odd.

Where is K-, Koneko isn't here! I can finally sit in that spot!

* * *

**Well... at last, I updated this story. I mean, I literally have four(no joke) chapters written, but I just don't like how I write them and... shit happens.**

**And next chapter... HOHOHO, I can feel the insanity, guilt and tragedy from over here...**

**I always say this in my stories, but thank you all you reviewed, favorited and followed! It seriously brings a smile to my face!**


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